GAMMA Investing LLC Increases Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 30,456.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,801,588 shares of the CRM provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,789,147 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC owned about 0.40% of Salesforce worth $1,020,194,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 0.9% in the 4th 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 position in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,453,872 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $4,163,703,000 after buying an additional 177,321 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $3,752,830,000 after buying an additional 1,736,667 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $3,599,867,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew 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 valued at $2,988,422,000 after acquiring an additional 1,683,233 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total transaction of $1,975,615.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 41,422 shares in the company, valued at $12,219,490. The trade was a 13.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.37, for a total value of $1,725,518.77. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,967,047.50. This trade represents a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 46,553 shares of company stock valued at $12,897,323. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $347.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho reduced their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $210.00 price target for the company. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $404.00 price objective (up from $393.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $342.21.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.7%

CRM stock traded down $1.89 on Friday, hitting $265.03. 12,373,506 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,790,605. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $267.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $304.75. 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 12-month low of $216.06 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The stock has a market cap of $254.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.42.

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

Salesforce Increases Dividend

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

About Salesforce

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.