Premier Fund Managers Ltd Takes Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Premier Fund Managers Ltd acquired a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 29,120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,782,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. United Bank grew its stake in Salesforce by 1.1% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 7,303 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,999,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 36.6% during the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 9,935 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,719,000 after acquiring an additional 2,664 shares during the last quarter. MayTech Global Investments LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 18.4% during the 3rd quarter. MayTech Global Investments LLC now owns 121,831 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,346,000 after purchasing an additional 18,961 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Salesforce by 5.0% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 554,880 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $151,876,000 after purchasing an additional 26,486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 7.6% during the third quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 43,565 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $11,924,000 after purchasing an additional 3,072 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $415.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Salesforce from $345.00 to $310.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $362.74.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $277.88 on Friday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $310.49 and a 200-day moving average of $310.51. The company has a market cap of $267.04 billion, a PE ratio of 45.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.35. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This is a positive change from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.16%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.37, for a total value of $1,725,518.77. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,967,047.50. The trade was a 11.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 652 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $216,646.56. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 121,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,361,054.76. The trade was a 0.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 45,660 shares of company stock worth $14,095,336. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.