Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. Increases Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 35.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,510 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 8,446 shares during the quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $8,555,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Salesforce by 1.1% in the 3rd 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 Salesforce by 0.4% in the 3rd 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 Salesforce by 7.1% in the 3rd 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 grew its stake in Salesforce by 1,254.7% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,483,670 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $916,693,000 after acquiring an additional 3,226,512 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Salesforce by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,198,494 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $648,591,000 after acquiring an additional 444,652 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total value of $2,188,439.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 38,483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,903,561.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total value of $2,188,439.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 38,483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,903,561.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.20, for a total transaction of $2,852,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 60,416 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,230,643.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 610,793 shares of company stock worth $179,074,618 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Salesforce from a "c+" rating to a "b-" rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has 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 $310.61.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of CRM stock traded down $0.25 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $268.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,760,908 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,610,192. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company has a market capitalization of $260.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.28. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $295.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $265.65. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.76 and a 1-year high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.52%.

Salesforce 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.

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