Westwind Capital Makes New $13.65 Million Investment in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Westwind Capital purchased a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 40,812 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $13,645,000. Salesforce accounts for 3.0% of Westwind Capital’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position.

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

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.87, for a total transaction of $1,217,454.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 118,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,353,653.18. This represents a 3.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,181,817 shares of company stock valued at $404,760,429 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $415.00 price objective (up previously from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $375.39.

Salesforce Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE CRM traded down $6.59 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $323.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,351,142 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,443,352. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $333.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $287.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $310.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 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 posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

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.