Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Acquires 6,847 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 15.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 50,179 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,847 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $16,776,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Veritas Asset Management LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at about $733,805,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 52.7% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,433,785 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,482,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,530,572 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 46.7% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,829,773 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,280,408,000 after buying an additional 1,219,254 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Salesforce by 171.2% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $447,470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032,068 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in Salesforce by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $13,432,855,000 after purchasing an additional 864,193 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $307.19 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The stock has a market cap of $293.98 billion, a PE ratio of 50.53, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $330.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $306.97.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.62 EPS. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 21st. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $374.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Miguel Milano sold 458 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total transaction of $141,050.26. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 5,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,805,936.08. This trade represents a 7.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. This trade represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock valued at $381,283,706. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.