Brooklyn Investment Group Grows Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,594 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 427 shares during the period. Salesforce makes up 0.8% of Brooklyn Investment Group’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Brooklyn Investment Group’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,539,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Aviance Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,860,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. EWA LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.7% in the third quarter. EWA LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $548,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Umpqua Bank raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.4% in the third quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 7,708 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,110,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% in the third quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 3,297 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $891,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nvwm LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% in the third quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 2,565 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $667,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CRM. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $415.00 target price (up previously from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Loop Capital boosted their target price on Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.82, for a total value of $1,213,044.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 118,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,229,213.48. This represents a 3.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 6,161 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.75, for a total transaction of $1,785,149.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $280,767.75. The trade was a 86.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,183,838 shares of company stock valued at $405,595,158. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $324.77 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $310.81 billion, a PE ratio of 53.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $337.25 and a 200-day moving average of $291.08.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.62 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.