Russell Investments Group Ltd. Has $199.70 Million Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 758,097 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 14,489 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.08% of Salesforce worth $199,699,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CRM. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 1,254.7% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,483,670 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $916,693,000 after buying an additional 3,226,512 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 23,653.7% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,406,220 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $370,033,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400,300 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 47.5% in the third quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 2,499,630 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $506,875,000 after purchasing an additional 804,634 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Salesforce by 330.0% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 935,885 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $189,779,000 after purchasing an additional 718,245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the third quarter worth about $114,521,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 942 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.46, for a total transaction of $287,743.32. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 39,416 shares in the company, valued at $12,040,011.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 942 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.46, for a total value of $287,743.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 39,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,040,011.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.65, for a total transaction of $4,149,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,782,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,536,230,764.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 620,793 shares of company stock worth $182,177,918 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $365.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $342.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Mizuho reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price target (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.61.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.4 %

CRM traded up $1.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $274.29. The stock had a trading volume of 3,754,585 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,162,527. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $295.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $263.90. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $266.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.28. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $190.76 and a 1-year high of $318.71.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued 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 payout ratio is 9.52%.

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.