Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Bought by Brookstone Capital Management

Brookstone Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 57,167 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 652 shares during the quarter. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $19,113,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,215,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 13.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 6,938 shares during the period. Aljian Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 16.1% during the 3rd 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 during the period. AIA Group Ltd grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,577,000 after acquiring an additional 1,962 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,395,132,000 after buying an additional 257,501 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the company’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 $117,824.77. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.87, for a total transaction of $1,217,454.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 118,514 shares in the company, valued at $34,353,653.18. This trade represents a 3.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,181,817 shares of company stock worth $404,760,429 over the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Guggenheim lowered shares of Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $415.00 price target (up previously from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $376.05.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM traded up $0.23 on Monday, reaching $318.08. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,197,002 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,389,933. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $335.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $289.73. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $304.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.32, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The business had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.32%.

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.