Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Buys 1,683,233 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 23.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,938,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,683,233 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,988,422,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Nvest Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Nvest Financial LLC now owns 2,806 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $938,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. OMC Financial Services LTD increased its position in Salesforce by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. OMC Financial Services LTD now owns 11,390 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 787 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Sachetta LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 11,018 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,684,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, Prossimo Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 3,366 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,125,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CRM. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. DA Davidson restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Salesforce from $430.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $357.49.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $298,055.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,534,090. This represents a 1.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 6,959 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total value of $1,762,784.29. Following the sale, the insider now owns 36,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,141,957.90. This represents a 16.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 47,654 shares of company stock worth $14,124,094. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of CRM stock opened at $243.10 on Wednesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-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. The stock has a market cap of $233.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.98, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $277.69 and its 200-day moving average is $308.98.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. This is a boost from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.10%.

Salesforce Company 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.