Nvwm LLC Has $1.91 Million Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Nvwm LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 131.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,944 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,379 shares during the period. Nvwm LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,911,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Veritas Asset Management LLP bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter valued at $733,805,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 52.7% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,433,785 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,482,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,530,572 shares during the period. Swedbank AB increased its position in Salesforce by 46.7% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,829,773 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,280,408,000 after buying an additional 1,219,254 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Salesforce by 171.2% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $447,470,000 after buying an additional 1,032,068 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 23,664.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,002,848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $274,490,000 after acquiring an additional 998,628 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $344.07 on Wednesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $329.28 billion, a PE ratio of 56.59, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $338.69 and its 200 day moving average is $299.31.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.32%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total transaction of $109,965,671.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,217,696,838.46. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,344,899.96. This trade represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,111,420 shares of company stock valued at $384,366,700 in the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CRM shares. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Salesforce from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $380.00 to $400.00 in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.63.

About Salesforce

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.