Magnus Financial Group LLC Raises Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Magnus Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,285 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Magnus Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $764,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Gabelli Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 2,405 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $618,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the period. Sfmg LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 24.9% during the second quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 23,264 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,981,000 after acquiring an additional 4,635 shares during the period. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 403.4% during the second quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,836 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,829,000 after acquiring an additional 9,485 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 16.1% in the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 736,459 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $189,344,000 after purchasing an additional 102,358 shares during the period. Finally, Unisphere Establishment lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter. Unisphere Establishment now owns 559,000 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $143,719,000 after purchasing an additional 68,250 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp raised shares of Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Cfra set a $343.00 price objective on Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.23, for a total transaction of $145,115.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,888,236.38. This trade represents a 7.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,171,198 shares of company stock worth $401,945,558. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $332.67 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $318.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.72, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day moving average of $336.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $292.92. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

About Salesforce

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.