Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC Has $905,000 Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 63.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,438 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,334 shares during the period. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $905,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 2.9% in the third quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,633 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $534,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Pure Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $214,000. Riversedge Advisors LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 21.7% in the 3rd quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 2,353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $477,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp bought a new stake in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,499,000. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 2,499,630 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $506,875,000 after purchasing an additional 804,634 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.01, for a total value of $4,110,150.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,761,166 shares in the company, valued at $3,770,697,095.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.01, for a total transaction of $4,110,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,761,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,770,697,095.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 293,965 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $82,310,200.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 897,375 shares of company stock valued at $260,206,096 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM opened at $277.41 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $298.35 and a 200 day moving average of $260.79. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.57 and a 52-week high of $318.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market cap of $269.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.05, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.28.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on CRM shares. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $365.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 target price (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Mizuho reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 target price (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $307.87.

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.