ING Groep NV Has $82.95 Million Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

ING Groep NV cut its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 64.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 303,059 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 549,611 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $82,950,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CRM. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $15,885,000 after purchasing an additional 6,938 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd increased its position in Salesforce by 8.9% during the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $6,577,000 after buying an additional 1,962 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. raised its holdings in Salesforce by 13.6% during the third quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 89,098 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $24,387,000 after buying an additional 10,656 shares in the last quarter. XN LP boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 24.2% during the 2nd quarter. XN LP now owns 464,489 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $119,420,000 after acquiring an additional 90,616 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 27.5% during the 3rd quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,999 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,284,000 after acquiring an additional 2,589 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE CRM traded down $7.73 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $333.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,044,483 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,295,478. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $283.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $265.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $319.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.18, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $348.86.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.83%.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total transaction of $608,108.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 828 shares in the company, valued at $202,702.68. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.97, for a total transaction of $1,104,474.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,920,275.57. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total value of $608,108.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,702.68. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 144,373 shares of company stock worth $41,250,680. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on CRM. Cfra set a $343.00 price target on Salesforce in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $330.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. FBN Securities raised shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. UBS Group raised their price target on Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $318.23.

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.