Valley National Advisers Inc. Has $842,000 Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 13.6% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,798 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 335 shares during the quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $842,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 333.3% during the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on CRM. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $325.00 price objective (down from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, May 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $292.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.24, for a total transaction of $1,076,208.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 116,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,901,414.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.24, for a total transaction of $1,076,208.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 116,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,901,414.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 3,910 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total value of $1,074,350.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,347,848.51. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 499,152 shares of company stock worth $136,281,661 in the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $260.83 on Thursday. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $193.68 and a 1 year high of $318.71. The firm has a market cap of $252.74 billion, a PE ratio of 46.91, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $259.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $276.43.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $9.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.15 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. Analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.19%.

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.