Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Bought by Ignite Planners LLC

Ignite Planners LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 19.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,524 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 251 shares during the period. Ignite Planners LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $507,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Salesforce by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $13,432,855,000 after buying an additional 864,193 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 257,501 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,360,215,000 after acquiring an additional 314,530 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.2% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,141,562,000 after buying an additional 176,641 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Salesforce by 1.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,632,599,000 after purchasing an additional 57,825 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CRM. Barclays lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Northland Capmk upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $376.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, COO Brian Millham sold 6,161 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.75, for a total value of $1,785,149.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $280,767.75. This trade represents a 86.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.82, for a total value of $1,213,044.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 118,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,229,213.48. This represents a 3.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,177,617 shares of company stock worth $403,542,975. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE CRM opened at $323.31 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $336.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $290.66. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $309.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.30. 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 (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 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.