William Blair Investment Management LLC Has $393.80 Million Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,177,866 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,410 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises about 1.0% of William Blair Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $393,796,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cozad Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,417 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,820,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 22.1% during the 4th quarter. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC now owns 453 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $151,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 19,821 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,627,000 after buying an additional 956 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 66,934 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $22,378,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signature Wealth Management Group grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Signature Wealth Management Group now owns 6,837 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,286,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CRM. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $430.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. 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 report on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target on Salesforce from $415.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $365.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 value of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,344,899.96. This trade represents a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total value of $109,965,671.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. This trade represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,108,793 shares of company stock valued at $383,156,227. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $279.76 on Monday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $318.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $309.36. The company has a market capitalization of $268.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.35.

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.