Collier Financial Purchases Shares of 94 Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Collier Financial bought a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 94 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $32,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Veritas Asset Management LLP bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter valued at approximately $733,805,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 52.7% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,433,785 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,482,347,000 after buying an additional 1,530,572 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings 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 valued at $1,280,408,000 after acquiring an additional 1,219,254 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings 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 valued at $447,470,000 after acquiring an additional 1,032,068 shares during the period. Finally, 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $326.95 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $338.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $301.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $312.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. Guggenheim cut Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. DA Davidson upped their price target on Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, COO Brian Millham sold 14,808 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.95, for a total transaction of $5,019,171.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.00, for a total value of $2,133,803.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,474,323. The trade was a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,111,420 shares of company stock worth $384,366,700 over the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.