Norden Group LLC Boosts Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Norden Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,231 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,752,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 85.1% during the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Collier Financial purchased a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on CRM shares. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $375.00 to $367.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $415.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $415.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. KeyCorp raised shares of Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirty-two have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $365.32.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. The trade was a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,217,696,838.46. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,102,572 shares of company stock valued at $381,283,706 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE CRM opened at $297.63 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $284.83 billion, a PE ratio of 48.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $329.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $307.58.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.62 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share 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. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 25.16%.

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.