Geode Capital Management LLC Increases Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 257,501 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $5,395,132,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brophy Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,290,000. Resources Management Corp CT ADV increased its stake in Salesforce by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 6,007 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,644,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in Salesforce by 5.5% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 193,314 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $52,912,000 after buying an additional 10,084 shares during the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 5.3% in the third quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 1,037 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $284,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,215,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Down 2.9 %

NYSE CRM opened at $351.49 on Tuesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market cap of $336.38 billion, a PE ratio of 57.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $311.53 and its 200 day moving average is $273.32.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released 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 company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $18,156,600.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 140,982 shares of company stock worth $41,591,457 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $345.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $372.86.

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.