Clarius Group LLC Increases Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Clarius Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,911 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,313,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake in Salesforce by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $13,432,855,000 after buying an additional 864,193 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 257,501 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in 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 last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 176,641 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.5 %

CRM opened at $324.77 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $337.31 and a 200 day moving average of $291.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00. The firm has a market cap of $310.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 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 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 last year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on CRM shares. 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 report on Wednesday, December 4th. Cfra set a $343.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.88, for a total transaction of $2,052,183.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,128,626.68. This trade represents a 11.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 1,785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.00, for a total transaction of $614,040.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,575,904. This represents a 8.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,183,838 shares of company stock valued at $405,595,158. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.