Baird Financial Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 332,485 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,442 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $111,160,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,955,353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $6,656,078,000 after purchasing an additional 175,035 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,453,872 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,163,703,000 after buying an additional 177,321 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,752,830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,736,667 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,599,867,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Salesforce by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,938,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,988,422,000 after purchasing an additional 1,683,233 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, insider Miguel Milano sold 458 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total transaction of $141,050.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,864 shares in the company, valued at $1,805,936.08. This represents a 7.24 % 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, insider Parker Harris sold 3,273 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total transaction of $931,430.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 125,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,614,048.68. This represents a 2.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 52,051 shares of company stock worth $15,027,714. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $300.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Guggenheim raised shares of Salesforce from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $350.56.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $275.21 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $269.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $307.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The firm has a market cap of $264.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.26, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This is an increase from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.10%.

About Salesforce

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.