Gradient Investments LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Get Rating) by 51.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,821 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 962 shares during the quarter. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $599,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Salesforce by 1.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,620,937 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $16,480,478,000 after purchasing an additional 1,458,042 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 44,687,516 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $9,488,053,000 after acquiring an additional 433,659 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,448,821 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,914,460,000 after acquiring an additional 564,493 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 4.6% in the first quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 15,234,715 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,234,635,000 after acquiring an additional 669,616 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $2,689,030,000. Institutional investors own 77.02% of the company’s stock.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 973 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.43, for a total transaction of $165,828.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 93,103 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,867,544.29. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.52, for a total transaction of $385,296.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 28,761,368 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,818,104,367.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 973 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.43, for a total value of $165,828.39. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 93,103 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,867,544.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 70,849 shares of company stock valued at $12,397,285. Insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.
Salesforce Stock Performance
NYSE:CRM opened at $154.78 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $154.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 286.63, a PEG ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $174.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $180.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $150.48 and a 1-year high of $311.75.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 24th. The CRM provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $7.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.70 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 3.32% and a net margin of 1.83%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.87 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.
Salesforce declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, August 24th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the CRM provider to buy up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several brokerages have issued reports on CRM. UBS Group lowered their price target on Salesforce from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 25th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Salesforce from $223.00 to $207.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 25th. Cowen lowered their price target on Salesforce from $225.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 25th. Wolfe Research decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $215.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 25th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $245.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.21.
Salesforce Profile
Salesforce, Inc provides customer relationship management technology that brings companies and customers together worldwide. Its Customer 360 platform empowers its customers to work together to deliver connected experiences for their customers. The company’s service offerings include Sales to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, gain insights through analytics and relationship intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and Service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer service and support at scale.
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