Shufro Rose & Co. LLC Has $7.89 Million Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Shufro Rose & Co. LLC lessened its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 29,971 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 327 shares during the quarter. Shufro Rose & Co. LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $7,887,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Salesforce Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:CRM traded up $1.15 during 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 firm has a market capitalization of $266.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 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 current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The business’s fifty day moving average is $295.97 and its 200-day moving average is $264.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.94, for a total transaction of $4,064,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,827,327 shares in the company, valued at $3,475,435,977.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.94, for a total transaction of $4,064,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,827,327 shares in the company, valued at $3,475,435,977.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 4,204 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.00, for a total value of $1,168,712.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 620,793 shares of company stock worth $182,177,918 over the last quarter. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CRM shares. Bank of America lifted their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $342.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, April 15th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.61.

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.