646 Shares in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Acquired by Riverstone Advisors LLC

Riverstone Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 646 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,473 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $12,194,000 after acquiring an additional 4,752 shares during the last quarter. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,215,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position 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 during the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AIA Group Ltd increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,577,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, COO Brian Millham sold 708 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $235,254.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 1,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $411,694.92. This trade represents a 36.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total value of $1,178,057.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 119,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,431,349.48. This trade represents a 3.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,108,669 shares of company stock valued at $383,286,905 over the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $341.80 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The company has a market cap of $327.10 billion, a PE ratio of 56.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $338.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $297.37.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Northland Securities reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 target price (up previously from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.63.

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.