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

LJI Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,611 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $414,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 66.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its position 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 buying an additional 18,397 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 789,525 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $207,756,000 after buying an additional 194,224 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 7,160 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,983,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, XN LP lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 24.2% during the 2nd quarter. XN LP now owns 464,489 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $119,420,000 after buying an additional 90,616 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.1 %

CRM stock opened at $252.42 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $253.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $267.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $244.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $193.68 and a twelve month high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $355.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Salesforce from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $335.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $305.55.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 942 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.32, for a total value of $228,265.44. Following the sale, the insider now owns 22,154 shares in the company, valued at $5,368,357.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 942 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.32, for a total value of $228,265.44. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 22,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,368,357.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.04, for a total transaction of $1,079,568.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,223,020.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,576 shares of company stock worth $16,957,573 in the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.