Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Purchased by Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C.

Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. grew its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 8.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,006 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the quarter. Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $336,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Salesforce by 14.5% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 96,205 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $24,734,000 after buying an additional 12,193 shares during the last quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth $215,000. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 296,331 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $76,187,000 after acquiring an additional 23,750 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 11.9% during the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 2,405 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $618,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,315 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,634,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total value of $109,965,671.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $255,905.13. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,930 shares in the company, valued at $15,100,399.70. The trade was a 1.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,173,477 shares of company stock worth $402,596,964. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $324.77 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $337.31 and a 200-day moving average of $292.02. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00. The stock has a market cap of $310.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on CRM. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $415.00 price target (up from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.63.

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.