Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Bought by NS Partners Ltd

NS Partners Ltd grew its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 12.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 114,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,161 shares during the period. Salesforce accounts for approximately 1.6% of NS Partners Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. NS Partners Ltd’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $38,407,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CRM. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,473 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $12,194,000 after buying an additional 4,752 shares during the last quarter. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,215,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 13.6% in 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 buying an additional 6,938 shares during the last quarter. Athena Investment Management purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $236,000. Finally, Aljian Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,629,000 after buying an additional 1,834 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on CRM shares. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $415.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $300.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $365.62.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total value of $249,995,253.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,192,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,104,786,234.99. This represents a 18.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.00, for a total transaction of $2,133,803.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,474,323. The trade was a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,108,793 shares of company stock valued at $383,156,227 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $282.74 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $323.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $308.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $270.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.35.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

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.