Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Bought by Great Lakes Retirement Inc.

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,675 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,235,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CRM. State Street Corp grew its position in Salesforce by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $13,432,855,000 after purchasing an additional 864,193 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,395,132,000 after purchasing an additional 257,501 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,360,215,000 after purchasing an additional 314,530 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Salesforce by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,632,599,000 after purchasing an additional 57,825 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Salesforce by 1.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,912,854 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,618,407,000 after purchasing an additional 96,381 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CRM. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.63.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, COO Brian Millham sold 14,808 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.95, for a total value of $5,019,171.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.00, for a total transaction of $2,133,803.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,474,323. The trade was a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock worth $384,366,700. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $324.50 on Wednesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $338.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $301.53. 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 company has a market capitalization of $310.55 billion, a PE ratio of 53.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. Salesforce’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

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.