Unigestion Holding SA Takes $975,000 Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Unigestion Holding SA purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 3,633 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $975,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 85.1% during the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,256 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total value of $318,157.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,826 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,248,954.06. This trade represents a 8.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 6,959 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total transaction of $1,762,784.29. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,141,957.90. This trade represents a 16.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 40,332 shares of company stock valued at $11,024,802 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 30th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Finally, Stephens decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $346.34.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM traded up $3.64 on Thursday, hitting $266.81. 8,638,662 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,624,510. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $227.77 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The business's fifty day moving average is $266.51 and its 200 day moving average is $303.30. The company has a market capitalization of $255.07 billion, a PE ratio of 43.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. Salesforce's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.44 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

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