Putney Financial Group LLC Takes $1.39 Million Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,171 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,394,000. Salesforce comprises 1.0% of Putney Financial Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,955,353 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $6,656,078,000 after purchasing an additional 175,035 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,453,872 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $4,163,703,000 after purchasing an additional 177,321 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Salesforce by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $3,752,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,736,667 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,599,867,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,938,536 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,988,422,000 after acquiring an additional 1,683,233 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their price target on Salesforce from $335.00 to $320.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Macquarie reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $320.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Salesforce from $415.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Salesforce from $430.00 to $400.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on Salesforce from $415.00 to $400.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $349.87.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of CRM stock traded up $3.80 on Tuesday, hitting $276.93. The stock had a trading volume of 10,944,663 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,935,640. The business has a 50 day moving average of $268.33 and a 200 day moving average of $306.20. The stock has a market cap of $266.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.42. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This is a positive change from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.10%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, Director Robin L. Washington bought 1,695 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $294.61 per share, with a total value of $499,363.95. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 43,445 shares in the company, valued at $12,799,331.45. This represents a 4.06% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,273 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total transaction of $931,430.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 125,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,614,048.68. The trade was a 2.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,553 shares of company stock valued at $12,897,323 over the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.