B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Buys Shares of 148,417 Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 148,417 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $40,622,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 26.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,329,925,000 after purchasing an additional 3,044,611 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in Salesforce by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,116,449 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,251,592,000 after acquiring an additional 407,834 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Salesforce by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,141,562,000 after acquiring an additional 176,641 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Salesforce by 48.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,518,658,000 after acquiring an additional 1,922,674 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 25.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,378,826 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,125,331,000 after buying an additional 877,495 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $18,156,600.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.04, for a total transaction of $1,251,768.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 119,402 shares in the company, valued at $35,586,572.08. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 140,173 shares of company stock valued at $40,146,206. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 price objective (up previously from $300.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Phillip Securities reiterated an “accumulate” rating and set a $305.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, August 30th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Salesforce from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Cfra set a $343.00 target price on Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $325.36.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.9 %

CRM stock opened at $322.25 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $308.07 billion, a PE ratio of 56.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $348.86. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $288.14 and its 200 day moving average is $266.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.83%.

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.