LJI Wealth Management LLC Takes $414,000 Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

LJI Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,611 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $414,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 66.3% during the 4th quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management now owns 1,567 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $412,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,951,415 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,566,055,000 after purchasing an additional 18,397 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 32.6% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 789,525 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $207,756,000 after buying an additional 194,224 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 7,160 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,983,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XN LP grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 24.2% in the 2nd quarter. XN LP now owns 464,489 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $119,420,000 after buying an additional 90,616 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Macquarie decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $275.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $360.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Salesforce from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Salesforce from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $305.55.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.1 %

CRM stock opened at $252.42 on Thursday. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $193.68 and a one year high of $318.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $253.60 and its 200 day moving average is $267.01. The firm has a market cap of $244.59 billion, a PE ratio of 45.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.29.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 28.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 2,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.22, for a total value of $675,416.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,362,888.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total value of $105,637.14. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,431 shares in the company, valued at $1,644,921.18. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 2,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.22, for a total value of $675,416.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,362,888.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,576 shares of company stock worth $16,957,573 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.