Valeo Financial Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 80,000 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 744 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises approximately 0.7% of Valeo Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $26,746,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp grew its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $5,395,132,000 after buying an additional 257,501 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 314,530 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Salesforce by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,632,599,000 after buying an additional 57,825 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,912,854 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,618,407,000 after acquiring an additional 96,381 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.94, for a total value of $2,089,882.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,705,195. The trade was a 11.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.94, for a total value of $167,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,202,758.58. The trade was a 7.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock valued at $384,366,700 over the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $325.49 on Friday. 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 $311.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.53, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $337.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $302.33.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). 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 analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued 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 was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.