Unigestion Holding SA Invests $975,000 in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Unigestion Holding SA bought a new position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 3,633 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $975,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,599,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its position in Salesforce by 926.4% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,256,211 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,422,979,000 after buying an additional 3,841,521 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 30,456.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,801,588 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,020,194,000 after buying an additional 3,789,147 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,173,564,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Salesforce by 42.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,791,015 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,604,770,000 after buying an additional 2,325,156 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,909 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total transaction of $543,263.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,218,599.80. The trade was a 14.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction 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 approximately $12,967,047.50. This represents a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 40,332 shares of company stock valued at $11,024,802. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on CRM shares. Barclays cut their price target on Salesforce from $425.00 to $347.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Guggenheim raised Salesforce from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Bank of America cut their price target on Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Scotiabank cut their price target on Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Salesforce from $320.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $346.34.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $264.56 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $266.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $303.58. The stock has a market cap of $252.92 billion, a PE ratio of 43.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $227.77 and a 1 year high of $369.00. 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 (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. Salesforce’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.44 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This is a boost from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

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.