Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC Acquires 600 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,499 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the quarter. Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $410,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CRM. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 26.9% during 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 buying an additional 3,044,611 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the first quarter worth approximately $910,220,000. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the first quarter valued at approximately $874,748,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter valued at approximately $733,805,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $321.95 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $307.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.99, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $208.84 and a 12 month high of $322.81. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $277.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $264.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 27.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Salesforce from $295.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Cfra set a $343.00 price objective on Salesforce in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. FBN Securities upgraded shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $313.37.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 available through this link. In related news, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total value of $608,108.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 828 shares in the company, valued at $202,702.68. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $18,156,600.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 148,573 shares of company stock worth $42,319,874. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.