Brookstone Capital Management Raises Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Brookstone Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,167 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 652 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $19,113,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Veritas Asset Management LLP purchased a new position in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $733,805,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 48.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,518,658,000 after acquiring an additional 1,922,674 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings 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 worth $447,470,000 after acquiring an additional 1,032,068 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 23,664.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,002,848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $274,490,000 after acquiring an additional 998,628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 51.0% in the 2nd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,946,838 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $757,632,000 after acquiring an additional 994,670 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.1 %

Salesforce stock traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $318.08. 1,197,002 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,389,933. The business has a fifty day moving average of $335.82 and a 200 day moving average of $289.73. 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 $304.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.32, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its 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). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was 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 owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.87, for a total value of $1,217,454.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 118,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,353,653.18. This represents a 3.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,181,817 shares of company stock worth $404,760,429. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $376.05.

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.