Fisher Funds Management LTD Makes New Investment in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Fisher Funds Management LTD acquired a new position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 176,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $58,719,000. Salesforce makes up approximately 1.4% of Fisher Funds Management LTD’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 85.1% in the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Collier Financial acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CRM. Piper Sandler set a $405.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded shares of Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-two have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $375.53.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, 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 directly owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at $2,344,899.96. The trade was a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of Salesforce 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,474,323. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,102,833 shares of company stock valued at $381,389,136. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Stock Down 2.8 %

CRM stock opened at $309.54 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $333.34 and a 200-day moving average of $305.72. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The company has a market capitalization of $296.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.91, a PEG ratio of 2.58 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.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results 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). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

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.