Saxon Interests Inc. Purchases Shares of 711 Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Saxon Interests Inc. purchased a new position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 711 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $238,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Veritas Asset Management LLP acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth $733,805,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 171.2% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $447,470,000 after buying an additional 1,032,068 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 23,664.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,002,848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $274,490,000 after buying an additional 998,628 shares during the period. Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 51.0% during the second quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,946,838 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $757,632,000 after buying an additional 994,670 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Salesforce by 25.1% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,378,826 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,125,331,000 after acquiring an additional 877,495 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $324.71 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $310.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.45, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $337.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $290.87. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. 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 is presently 26.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on CRM. Cfra set a $343.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $415.00 target price (up previously from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.63.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,217,696,838.46. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,998,741.74. This trade represents a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,183,838 shares of company stock worth $405,595,158. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.