Northeast Investment Management Has $354,000 Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Northeast Investment Management decreased its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,059 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 35 shares during the period. Northeast Investment Management’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $354,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Veritas Asset Management LLP acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at about $733,805,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position 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 grew its holdings in Salesforce by 46.7% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,829,773 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,280,408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219,254 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,032,068 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 23,664.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,002,848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $274,490,000 after buying an additional 998,628 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on CRM shares. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. TD Cowen upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Northland Securities reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $440.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have given 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 $377.63.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $325.81 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market cap of $311.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $338.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $300.36.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. This trade represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 14,808 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.95, for a total transaction of $5,019,171.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock valued at $384,366,700. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.