Parametrica Management Ltd Makes New Investment in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Parametrica Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 3,743 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $985,000. Salesforce comprises about 1.6% of Parametrica Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 35,220 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $9,268,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC grew 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 buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. grew its stake in Salesforce by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 7,881 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,206,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $214,000. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 47.5% in the third quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 2,499,630 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $506,875,000 after purchasing an additional 804,634 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM traded up $1.15 during trading on Friday, reaching $274.29. 3,754,585 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,162,527. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.76 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market cap of $266.06 billion, a PE ratio of 65.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $295.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $263.90.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.52%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.05, for a total value of $4,275,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,656,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,892,690,118.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.05, for a total value of $4,275,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,656,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,892,690,118.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.20, for a total transaction of $2,852,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares in the company, valued at $17,230,643.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 620,793 shares of company stock valued at $182,177,918. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.61.

Salesforce Company 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.