Calamos Advisors LLC Boosts Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Calamos Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 20.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 296,348 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 50,522 shares during the quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $99,078,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. lifted its stake in Salesforce by 300.0% in the third quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 135.6% during the 3rd quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the third quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $339.28 on Tuesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $338.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $297.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market capitalization of $324.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at $2,344,899.96. This trade represents a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 1,785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.00, for a total value of $614,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,575,904. This trade represents a 8.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,104,699 shares of company stock valued at $382,108,847 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Northland Securities reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 target price (up previously from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Cfra set a $343.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.63.

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.