Yoffe Investment Management LLC Acquires New Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Yoffe Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 937 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $313,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 85.1% during the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 3,273 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total value of $931,430.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 125,146 shares in the company, valued at $35,614,048.68. This trade represents a 2.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $137,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,711 shares in the company, valued at $3,220,525. This represents a 4.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 46,553 shares of company stock valued at $12,897,323 over the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Stock Down 4.7%

NYSE CRM traded down $12.86 during trading on Thursday, reaching $263.17. 17,916,824 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,995,003. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market cap of $253.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.42. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $268.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $305.79.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. Salesforce's revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.44 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is a boost from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is 26.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded Salesforce from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $420.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $210.00 price target on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $347.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $367.00 to $350.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $341.87.

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.