Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Buys Shares of 313,960 Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 313,960 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $104,173,000. Salesforce comprises about 2.1% of Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc purchased a new position in Salesforce in the third quarter valued at $1,215,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 13.6% in 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 buying an additional 6,938 shares during the period. Aljian Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 16.1% during the third quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,629,000 after buying an additional 1,834 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 8.9% during the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $6,577,000 after buying an additional 1,962 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $5,395,132,000 after acquiring an additional 257,501 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.04, for a total transaction of $1,251,768.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 119,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,586,572.08. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were 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 $4,217,696,838.46. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,173,891 shares of company stock worth $402,840,388. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.4 %

Salesforce stock opened at $333.47 on Monday. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $319.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $336.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $294.31. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp raised shares of Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Northland Securities reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 target price (up previously from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 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, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.63.

Salesforce Company 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.