Shaker Investments LLC OH Takes $1.07 Million Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Shaker Investments LLC OH purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 4,046 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,065,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.9% during the third quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,633 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $534,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 72.3% during the 3rd quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 29,481 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $5,978,000 after purchasing an additional 12,371 shares during the period. Pure Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $214,000. Riversedge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 21.7% in the 3rd quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 2,353 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,499,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total transaction of $60,201.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,869 shares in the company, valued at $799,618.99. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.77, for a total transaction of $4,046,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,791,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,720,442,851.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total transaction of $60,201.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $799,618.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 907,375 shares of company stock valued at $262,519,346. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CRM. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. JMP Securities raised their price target on Salesforce from $293.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Salesforce from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $290.00 to $350.00 in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $305.77.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.6 %

NYSE:CRM traded down $4.90 on Friday, hitting $294.25. 3,816,914 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,522,635. The company has a market cap of $285.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $298.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $258.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.45 and a 52 week high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. Salesforce's revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. Salesforce's payout ratio is 9.52%.

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.

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