Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Purchased by Catalina Capital Group LLC

Catalina Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,262 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Catalina Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,091,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,473 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $12,194,000 after purchasing an additional 4,752 shares during the last quarter. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,215,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $15,885,000 after buying an additional 6,938 shares during the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,629,000 after acquiring an additional 1,834 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AIA Group Ltd grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $6,577,000 after acquiring an additional 1,962 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. The trade was a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total transaction of $1,178,057.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 119,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,431,349.48. The trade was a 3.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,108,669 shares of company stock worth $383,286,905. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $341.80 on Monday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $327.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.22, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $338.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $297.66.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 26.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp upgraded Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Northland Securities restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $440.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.63.

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.