Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Bought by Cascade Investment Group Inc.

Cascade Investment Group Inc. boosted its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,875 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $961,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,215,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $15,885,000 after purchasing an additional 6,938 shares in the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 16.1% during 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 period. AIA Group Ltd raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $6,577,000 after buying an additional 1,962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,395,132,000 after buying an additional 257,501 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $324.77 on Monday. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $337.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $291.80. The firm has a market cap of $310.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CRM. Guggenheim lowered Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 6th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 target price (up from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Citigroup upped their price target on Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $255,905.13. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,930 shares in the company, valued at $15,100,399.70. This trade represents a 1.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,183,838 shares of company stock worth $405,595,158 in the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.