Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Bought by Crescent Sterling Ltd.

Crescent Sterling Ltd. grew its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 86.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,719 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 799 shares during the quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $575,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,215,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $15,885,000 after purchasing an additional 6,938 shares in the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834 shares during the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,577,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,395,132,000 after purchasing an additional 257,501 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Northland Capmk upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $376.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were 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 $34,353,653.18. This trade represents a 3.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 1,785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.00, for a total value of $614,040.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,116 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,575,904. The trade was a 8.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,181,817 shares of company stock worth $404,760,429. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Stock Down 2.8 %

Salesforce stock opened at $317.83 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $335.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $289.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $304.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Salesforce Company 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.