Russell Investments Group Ltd. Buys 14,489 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 758,097 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 14,489 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $199,699,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. bought a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. boosted its position in Salesforce by 333.3% during the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 892.9% during the fourth quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total value of $662,388.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,856 shares in the company, valued at $1,599,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.05, for a total transaction of $4,275,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,656,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,892,690,118.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total transaction of $662,388.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,599,566.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 620,793 shares of company stock worth $182,177,918 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $342.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, April 15th. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.61.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE CRM traded up $1.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $274.29. The stock had a trading volume of 3,754,585 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,162,527. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.76 and a 1 year high of $318.71. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $295.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $263.90. The firm has a market cap of $266.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.28.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. 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.