Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Acquired by Jackson Square Capital LLC

Jackson Square Capital LLC increased its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 41.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,148 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the period. Jackson Square Capital LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $384,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Salesforce by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $13,432,855,000 after purchasing an additional 864,193 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,395,132,000 after purchasing an additional 257,501 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 2.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,360,215,000 after purchasing an additional 314,530 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Salesforce by 2.2% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,141,562,000 after buying an additional 176,641 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Salesforce by 1.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,632,599,000 after buying an additional 57,825 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on CRM. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.63.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $324.77 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $310.81 billion, a PE ratio of 53.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $337.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $291.56. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $255,905.13. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,100,399.70. This trade represents a 1.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This trade represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,183,838 shares of company stock valued at $405,595,158 in the last quarter. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.