Capital Market Strategies LLC Acquires New Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Capital Market Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $230,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Veritas Asset Management LLP acquired a new position in Salesforce in the third quarter worth approximately $733,805,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 48.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,518,658,000 after buying an additional 1,922,674 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in Salesforce by 171.2% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $447,470,000 after buying an additional 1,032,068 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 23,664.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,002,848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $274,490,000 after buying an additional 998,628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 51.0% during the second quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,946,838 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $757,632,000 after buying an additional 994,670 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE:CRM traded down $2.79 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $330.11. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,575,724 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,801,348. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $315.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.29, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $332.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $286.81.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.62 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Guggenheim lowered Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday. Northland Capmk raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $375.39.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider R David Schmaier sold 1,785 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.00, for a total value of $614,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,575,904. This represents a 8.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.87, for a total value of $1,217,454.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 118,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,353,653.18. This represents a 3.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,186,017 shares of company stock valued at $405,971,793 in the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by 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.