Meritage Portfolio Management Buys Shares of 22,667 Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Meritage Portfolio Management acquired a new position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 22,667 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,965,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.1% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,195,108 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,270,144,000 after purchasing an additional 121,436 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,251,891 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,064,978,000 after purchasing an additional 19,888 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 7.1% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,678,330 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $948,676,000 after purchasing an additional 309,881 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 1,254.7% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,483,670 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $916,693,000 after purchasing an additional 3,226,512 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 16.1% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,198,494 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $648,591,000 after purchasing an additional 444,652 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total value of $662,388.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,599,566.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total transaction of $662,388.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,856 shares in the company, valued at $1,599,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total value of $2,188,439.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 38,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,903,561.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 620,793 shares of company stock valued at $182,177,918 in the last 90 days. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. Argus lifted their price target on Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 target price (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, April 12th. KeyCorp began coverage on Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.61.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE CRM traded up $0.70 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $273.84. 2,313,208 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,643,578. The stock has a market cap of $265.62 billion, a PE ratio of 65.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $296.28 and a 200-day moving average of $263.44. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $190.76 and a one year high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 9.52%.

About Salesforce

Salesforce, Inc provides Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that brings companies and customers together worldwide. The company's service includes sales to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, gain insights through analytics and artificial intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer support at scale.