Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Acquired by Highland Capital Management LLC

Highland Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 30,849 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $8,118,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Salesforce by 0.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,653,307 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $9,644,718,000 after purchasing an additional 143,962 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 19,003,836 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,519,719,000 after acquiring an additional 149,012 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,195,108 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,270,144,000 after acquiring an additional 121,436 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,420,381,000. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 125,717.4% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,260,412 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,360,428,000 after acquiring an additional 10,252,257 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.58, for a total transaction of $2,585,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 59,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,478,857.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.58, for a total transaction of $2,585,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 59,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,478,857.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.50, for a total transaction of $1,287,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 105,837 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,439,040.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 898,507 shares of company stock valued at $255,293,063. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on CRM shares. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $304.32.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $301.41 on Thursday. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $293.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $251.75. The company has a market cap of $292.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 71.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.28. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $187.31 and a 1 year high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 9.52%.

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.