HTLF Bank Makes New $331,000 Investment in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

HTLF Bank acquired a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $331,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.9% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Salesforce by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 19,003,836 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,519,719,000 after buying an additional 149,012 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted 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 valued at $2,270,144,000 after buying an additional 121,436 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $1,420,381,000. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 125,717.4% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,260,412 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,360,428,000 after acquiring an additional 10,252,257 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,074 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.00, for a total transaction of $2,009,016.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,993 shares in the company, valued at $11,074,012. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,074 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.00, for a total transaction of $2,009,016.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 38,993 shares in the company, valued at $11,074,012. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.83, for a total value of $4,152,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,857,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,559,293,833.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 628,184 shares of company stock worth $184,794,698. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $270.45 on Friday. 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 cap of $262.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.39, a PEG ratio of 2.09 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $297.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $261.43.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 9.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on CRM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $365.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average 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.