Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI Acquires 24,747 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI grew its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 266,571 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,747 shares during the quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $72,963,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CRM. Veritas Asset Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter valued at $733,805,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 48.3% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,518,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922,674 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 171.2% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $447,470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032,068 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 23,664.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,002,848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $274,490,000 after purchasing an additional 998,628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 51.0% in the second quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,946,838 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $757,632,000 after purchasing an additional 994,670 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Brian Millham sold 14,808 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 719 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.81, for a total transaction of $246,480.39. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,659 shares in the company, valued at $1,597,151.79. This represents a 13.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 140,982 shares of company stock worth $41,591,457 in the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $361.99 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $346.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.54, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $308.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $272.43.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the topic of several recent research reports. FBN Securities raised shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Cfra set a $343.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $372.86.

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.