Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. Has $2.21 Million Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. grew its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,881 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Salesforce makes up 0.9% of Roman Butler Fullerton & Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,206,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Salesforce by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,509,345 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $9,091,832,000 after purchasing an additional 391,648 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Salesforce by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 19,003,836 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,519,719,000 after purchasing an additional 149,012 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake 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. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $1,420,381,000. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 125,717.4% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,260,412 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,360,428,000 after purchasing an additional 10,252,257 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider R David Schmaier sold 3,910 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total transaction of $1,074,350.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 19,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,347,848.51. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Salesforce news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.11, for a total value of $2,841,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 60,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,323,891.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 3,910 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total transaction 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 $5,347,848.51. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 907,149 shares of company stock valued at $262,952,448 over the last quarter. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of CRM stock traded down $2.91 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $273.41. 583,250 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,635,455. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $298.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $260.89. The stock has a market cap of $265.21 billion, a PE ratio of 65.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.28. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.57 and a 12 month high of $318.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CRM shares. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Nine investment 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $307.87.

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.