Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC Raises Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 360.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 373 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $125,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.8% during 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 1.3% during the 3rd 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. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,360,215,000 after purchasing an additional 314,530 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 176,641 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of Salesforce stock traded down $9.27 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $317.63. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,893,897 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,616,037. The stock has a market cap of $303.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $335.36 and a 200-day moving average of $288.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 0.50%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,217,696,838.46. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This trade represents a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,181,817 shares of company stock valued at $404,760,429 in the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. 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. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Macquarie reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $376.05.

Salesforce Profile

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.