Fire Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Fire Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,966 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,326,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CRM. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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 during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake 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 during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake 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 during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,599,867,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Salesforce by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,938,536 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,988,422,000 after purchasing an additional 1,683,233 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $347.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Macquarie reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $210.00 price target for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $343.32.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock traded down $1.89 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $265.03. 12,373,506 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,670,055. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The business has a 50-day moving average of $267.31 and a 200 day moving average of $304.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $254.80 billion, a PE ratio of 43.59, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.42. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $227.77 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.44 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. This is a boost from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. Salesforce's payout ratio is presently 25.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.00, for a total value of $1,872,521.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,071,750. The trade was a 11.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 6,959 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total value of $1,762,784.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 36,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,141,957.90. This trade represents a 16.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 46,553 shares of company stock valued at $12,897,323 in the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.