Rheos Capital Works Inc. Takes $9.70 Million Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Rheos Capital Works Inc. purchased a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 29,000 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,696,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Nvest Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Nvest Financial LLC now owns 2,806 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $938,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Sachetta LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 11,018 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,684,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,860,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. EWA LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.7% during the third quarter. EWA LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $548,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,457 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $487,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the subject of several research reports. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Cfra set a $343.00 price target on Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.63.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $341.80 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $327.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $338.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $297.99. 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.

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). The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS 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 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total value of $109,965,671.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,344,899.96. This represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,108,669 shares of company stock worth $383,286,905. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Company 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.