Fielder Capital Group LLC Increases Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Fielder Capital Group LLC boosted its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,289 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Fielder Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $431,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Veritas Asset Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $733,805,000. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 52.7% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,433,785 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,482,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,530,572 shares during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 46.7% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,829,773 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,280,408,000 after acquiring an additional 1,219,254 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 171.2% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 56,872.2% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 933,204 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $311,998,000 after acquiring an additional 931,566 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total transaction of $249,995,253.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,192,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,104,786,234.99. This trade represents a 18.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. This trade represents a 5.82 % 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 ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Stock Down 4.1 %

NYSE:CRM opened at $294.80 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $330.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $306.89. The firm has a market cap of $282.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. Salesforce’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. Analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Macquarie reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $370.00 to $320.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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 analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $365.32.

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.