Crescent Sterling Ltd. Purchases 799 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Crescent Sterling Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 86.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,719 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 799 shares during the quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $575,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,215,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $15,885,000 after buying an additional 6,938 shares in the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 16.1% during the third quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,629,000 after buying an additional 1,834 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 8.9% in the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,577,000 after acquiring an additional 1,962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,395,132,000 after acquiring an additional 257,501 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $317.83 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $304.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.27, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $335.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $289.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The business had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on CRM shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $415.00 target price (up previously from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Loop Capital lifted their price target on Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Salesforce from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $376.05.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total transaction of $109,965,671.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,181,817 shares of company stock valued at $404,760,429. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.