Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC Acquires 14,800 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC raised its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 59.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 39,800 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,800 shares during the quarter. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $13,306,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Veritas Asset Management LLP acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth about $733,805,000. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Salesforce by 171.2% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $447,470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032,068 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 23,664.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,002,848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $274,490,000 after purchasing an additional 998,628 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Salesforce by 25.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,378,826 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,125,331,000 after purchasing an additional 877,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its stake in Salesforce by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $13,432,855,000 after purchasing an additional 864,193 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.23, for a total value of $145,115.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,888,236.38. This trade represents a 7.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.04, for a total transaction of $1,251,768.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 119,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,586,572.08. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,173,891 shares of company stock worth $402,840,388 over the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on CRM. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.63.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $337.25 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $336.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $293.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $322.75 billion, a PE ratio of 55.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

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.