Myriad Asset Management US LP Buys New Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Myriad Asset Management US LP bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,483 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,833,000. Salesforce accounts for about 1.2% of Myriad Asset Management US LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 85.1% during the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Collier Financial acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at $2,344,899.96. The trade was a 5.82 % 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, COO Brian Millham sold 14,808 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.95, for a total transaction of $5,019,171.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock worth $384,366,700 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.63.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE CRM opened at $325.49 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’s fifty day moving average price is $337.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $302.33. The company has a market capitalization of $311.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

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.