Sustainable Growth Advisers LP raised its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 37.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,627,118 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 446,742 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises 2.4% of Sustainable Growth Advisers LP's portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP owned approximately 0.17% of Salesforce worth $436,653,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,955,353 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $6,656,078,000 after purchasing an additional 175,035 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Salesforce by 18.3% in the 4th 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 Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,599,867,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Salesforce by 23.2% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 1,683,233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,658,132 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,894,673,000 after buying an additional 602,445 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.
Salesforce Stock Up 0.1%
Shares of CRM traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $262.56. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,131,232 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,547,226. The business has a fifty day moving average of $270.45 and a 200 day moving average of $285.85. The company has a market cap of $251.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.36. Salesforce Inc. has a 1 year low of $230.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.44 earnings per share. Salesforce's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Salesforce Cuts Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were paid a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.98%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CRM. Guggenheim raised Salesforce from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $404.00 price objective (up from $393.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $370.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Salesforce from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Salesforce from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $348.16.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on CRM
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Salesforce news, insider R David Schmaier sold 4,586 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.66, for a total transaction of $1,163,284.76. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 33,273 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,440,029.18. This represents a 12.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total transaction of $1,975,615.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 36,069 shares of company stock valued at $9,698,893 over the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
About Salesforce
(
Free Report)
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.
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