718 Shares in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Bought by Avantra Family Wealth Inc.

Avantra Family Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 718 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $240,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Veritas Asset Management LLP acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $733,805,000. Swedbank AB grew its position in Salesforce by 46.7% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,829,773 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,280,408,000 after acquiring an additional 1,219,254 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its position in Salesforce by 171.2% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $447,470,000 after acquiring an additional 1,032,068 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $274,490,000 after acquiring an additional 998,628 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $13,432,855,000 after acquiring an additional 864,193 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. This represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total transaction of $1,178,057.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 119,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,431,349.48. This represents a 3.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,108,669 shares of company stock valued at $383,286,905 in the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.5 %

Salesforce stock opened at $341.80 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $338.67 and a 200-day moving average of $297.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $327.10 billion, a PE ratio of 56.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Loop Capital raised their price target on Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.63.

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.