Simmons Bank Buys 2,550 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Simmons Bank raised its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 9.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 30,925 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,550 shares during the period. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $8,138,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. raised its holdings in Salesforce by 333.3% in the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total value of $662,388.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,599,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.43, for a total transaction of $4,386,450.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,521,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,953,994,573.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total value of $662,388.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,856 shares in the company, valued at $1,599,566.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 619,993 shares of company stock worth $181,048,574. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE CRM traded up $1.24 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $278.42. 1,941,426 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,485,941. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $293.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $267.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $193.68 and a 1 year high of $318.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $269.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted 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 the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 9.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CRM shares. Citigroup increased their target price on Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $342.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.61.

Salesforce Company Profile

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.