DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Sells 42,664 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)
DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lessened its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Free Report) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,125,637 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 42,664 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises approximately 0.6% of DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned 0.12% of Salesforce worth $297,691,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. raised its stake in Salesforce by 8.7% in the first quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 4,468 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $949,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Roundview Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 18.8% during the 1st quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 24,037 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,104,000 after acquiring an additional 3,809 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Salesforce by 42.8% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 621 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $132,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the first quarter valued at about $455,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 21.3% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 860,950 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $182,797,000 after purchasing an additional 151,440 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho restated a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 target price (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Salesforce from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $290.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $293.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $304.97.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on CRM
Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce
In other news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.82, for a total value of $2,538,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 59,861 shares in the company, valued at $15,193,919.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.59, for a total transaction of $3,878,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,866,166 shares in the company, valued at $3,585,651,865.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.82, for a total transaction of $2,538,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 59,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,193,919.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 913,175 shares of company stock worth $262,199,146. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.
Salesforce Stock Up 2.6 %
Shares of CRM traded up $7.77 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $301.91. The company had a trading volume of 4,253,651 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,803,582. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $187.31 and a 52 week high of $318.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The company has a market capitalization of $292.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $297.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $256.15.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $9.29 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.
Salesforce Dividend Announcement
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 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.
Further Reading
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CRM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Free Report).
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat’s editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.
Before you consider Salesforce, you’ll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street’s top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on… and Salesforce wasn’t on the list.
While Salesforce currently has a “Moderate Buy” rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
Which stocks are major institutional investors including hedge funds and endowments buying in today’s market? Click the link below and we’ll send you MarketBeat’s list of thirteen stocks that institutional investors are buying up as quickly as they can.
