20,129 Shares in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Acquired by Cullen Investment Group LTD.

Cullen Investment Group LTD. bought a new position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 20,129 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,297,000. Salesforce accounts for about 0.9% of Cullen Investment Group LTD.’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Fairfield Bush & CO. increased its stake in Salesforce by 8.7% in the first quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 4,468 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $949,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Roundview Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 18.8% in the first quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 24,037 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,104,000 after acquiring an additional 3,809 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 42.8% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 621 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $132,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. Ergoteles LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the first quarter valued at approximately $455,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 21.3% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 860,950 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $182,797,000 after acquiring an additional 151,440 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday. Mizuho reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price target (up from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Salesforce from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. JMP Securities increased their price target on Salesforce from $293.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Salesforce from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $315.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, December 18th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $306.26.

Salesforce Trading Down 5.6 %

Shares of NYSE CRM traded down $16.54 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $277.78. The stock had a trading volume of 4,502,807 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,487,970. The company has a market capitalization of $269.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.14, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.28. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.57 and a 1-year 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. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $298.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $259.77.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released 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 return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.01 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.77, for a total value of $4,046,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,791,166 shares in the company, valued at $3,720,442,851.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.75, for a total value of $1,267,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 105,837 shares in the company, valued at $31,936,314.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.77, for a total value of $4,046,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,791,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,720,442,851.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 907,375 shares of company stock worth $262,519,346. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Profile

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.