GAMMA Investing LLC Buys Shares of 4,161 Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,161 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,170,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.1% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,195,108 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,270,144,000 after purchasing an additional 121,436 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Salesforce by 0.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,251,891 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,064,978,000 after acquiring an additional 19,888 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Salesforce by 7.1% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,678,330 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $948,676,000 after acquiring an additional 309,881 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 1,254.7% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,483,670 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $916,693,000 after acquiring an additional 3,226,512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Salesforce by 16.1% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,198,494 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $648,591,000 after acquiring an additional 444,652 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.12, for a total transaction of $2,831,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,104,977.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.12, for a total value of $2,831,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 60,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,104,977.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.62, for a total value of $4,179,300.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,701,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,817,418,870.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 611,379 shares of company stock worth $179,698,420 in the last ninety days. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:CRM traded up $2.82 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $276.63. 6,283,041 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,718,907. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.57 and a 52 week high of $318.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market cap of $268.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $297.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $262.79.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on CRM. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com cut shares of Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price target (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 target price (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $365.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.61.

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.