SVB Wealth LLC Invests $5.44 Million in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 16,269 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,439,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $13,432,855,000 after purchasing an additional 864,193 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,395,132,000 after purchasing an additional 257,501 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 2.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,360,215,000 after buying an additional 314,530 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,632,599,000 after buying an additional 57,825 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,912,854 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,618,407,000 after buying an additional 96,381 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $297.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $329.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $307.58. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The company has a market capitalization of $284.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted 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). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on CRM. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $365.32.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total transaction of $109,965,671.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. This trade represents a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock valued at $381,283,706. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.