Catalina Capital Group LLC Boosts Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Catalina Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 29.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,042 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 689 shares during the quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $833,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Salesforce by 26.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,329,925,000 after purchasing an additional 3,044,611 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the first quarter valued at approximately $910,220,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the first quarter valued at approximately $874,748,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the third quarter worth approximately $733,805,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Salesforce by 48.3% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,518,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922,674 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $18,156,600.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, Director Maynard G. Webb, Jr. sold 9,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.32, for a total transaction of $2,533,854.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $376,624.16. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $18,156,600.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 146,003 shares of company stock valued at $41,494,084 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $297.53 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $274.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $263.56. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $204.69 and a 52-week high of $318.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $284.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.29.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The business’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 price objective (up from $300.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Loop Capital reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $313.37.

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.