Aspiriant LLC Grows Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

by · The Markets Daily

Aspiriant LLC increased its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Free Report) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,585 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the quarter. Aspiriant LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,202,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CRM. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,215,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in 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. Aljian Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 16.1% during the third quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,629,000 after acquiring an additional 1,834 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 8.9% during the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $6,577,000 after acquiring an additional 1,962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,395,132,000 after buying an additional 257,501 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE:CRM opened at $324.77 on Tuesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $310.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.42, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $337.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $292.02.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) last posted 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 analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 26.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $255,905.13. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 52,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,100,399.70. This trade represents a 1.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,173,477 shares of company stock valued at $402,596,964 in the last three months. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $415.00 target price (up previously from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned 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.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.63.

Get Our Latest Analysis on Salesforce

About Salesforce

(Free Report)

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.

Featured Articles

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CRM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Free Report).