Veritas Asset Management LLP Buys Shares of 2,680,957 Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Veritas Asset Management LLP purchased a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 2,680,957 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $733,805,000. Salesforce accounts for approximately 5.4% of Veritas Asset Management LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Nvwm LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 2,565 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $667,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.5% in the third quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,506 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $686,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.8% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 4,946 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,490,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 9,269 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,537,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CRA Financial Services LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. CRA Financial Services LLC now owns 1,160 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $318,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CRM. Northland Capmk raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $342.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $313.37.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $18,156,600.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $18,156,600.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 2,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.22, for a total value of $675,416.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at $28,362,888.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 148,303 shares of company stock worth $42,024,385. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM traded up $3.35 on Friday, hitting $294.72. 3,527,502 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,816,890. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $204.69 and a 12-month high of $318.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a 50 day moving average of $273.02 and a 200-day moving average of $263.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $281.75 billion, a PE ratio of 51.26, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.29.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.83%.

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.