Fisher Funds Management LTD Purchases New Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Fisher Funds Management LTD acquired a new position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 176,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $58,719,000. Salesforce makes up 1.4% of Fisher Funds Management LTD’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 85.1% in the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Collier Financial purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at $2,344,899.96. This trade represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total transaction of $109,965,671.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,102,833 shares of company stock worth $381,389,136. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on CRM. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Northland Securities reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $440.00 price objective (up previously from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Guggenheim cut shares of Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-two have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $375.53.

Salesforce Stock Down 2.8 %

Salesforce stock opened at $309.54 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $333.34 and a 200 day moving average of $305.72. 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 $296.23 billion, a PE ratio of 50.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

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.