Parametrica Management Ltd Invests $985,000 in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Parametrica Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 3,743 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $985,000. Salesforce comprises 1.6% of Parametrica Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 1,254.7% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,483,670 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $916,693,000 after purchasing an additional 3,226,512 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 23,653.7% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,406,220 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $370,033,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400,300 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 47.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 2,499,630 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $506,875,000 after purchasing an additional 804,634 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Salesforce by 330.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 935,885 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $189,779,000 after purchasing an additional 718,245 shares during the period. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $114,521,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $365.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. TheStreet raised shares of Salesforce from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.61.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total transaction of $2,188,439.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 38,483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,903,561.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total transaction of $2,188,439.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 38,483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,903,561.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total value of $662,388.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,599,566.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 620,793 shares of company stock worth $182,177,918. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM stock traded up $1.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $274.29. 3,754,585 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,162,527. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company has a market capitalization of $266.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.28. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.76 and a 52-week high of $318.71. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $295.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $263.90.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.52%.

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.