Duality Advisers LP Invests $1.28 Million in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Duality Advisers LP purchased a new position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 4,249 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,280,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $2,762,331,000. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Salesforce by 76.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,708,615 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,607,493,000 after acquiring an additional 5,935,973 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 1,254.7% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,483,670 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $916,693,000 after acquiring an additional 3,226,512 shares in the last quarter. Coatue Management LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $564,188,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its holdings in Salesforce by 110.3% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 3,394,912 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $893,336,000 after acquiring an additional 1,780,421 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 5,864 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total transaction of $1,611,251.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,428,121.87. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider R David Schmaier sold 3,910 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total value of $1,074,350.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,463 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,347,848.51. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 5,864 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total value of $1,611,251.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 45,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,428,121.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 439,152 shares of company stock worth $118,115,911. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $365.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. DA Davidson lowered their price target on Salesforce from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Salesforce from $323.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $292.79.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE:CRM traded up $3.88 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $255.00. 3,018,191 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,913,210. The stock has a market capitalization of $247.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $193.68 and a one year high of $318.71. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $256.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $275.90.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.06. Salesforce had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 15.30%. The business had revenue of $9.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.15 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.15 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 28.78%.

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.