Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Purchased by Larson Financial Group LLC

Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 38.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,269 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,188 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,168,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 1st quarter valued at about $874,748,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $733,805,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 48.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,518,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922,674 shares during the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its stake in Salesforce by 376.1% in the 2nd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,442,453 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $370,873,000 after buying an additional 1,139,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Salesforce by 171.2% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $447,470,000 after buying an additional 1,032,068 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Salesforce from $295.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $305.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Salesforce from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $336.37.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.9 %

CRM stock opened at $342.02 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $326.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.48, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $294.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $268.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $348.86.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 27.83%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $255,905.13. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 52,930 shares in the company, valued at $15,100,399.70. This represents a 1.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $18,156,600.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 147,991 shares of company stock worth $43,333,238. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Salesforce

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.