BNP Paribas Has $29.25 Million Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

BNP Paribas trimmed its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 45.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 106,522 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 90,166 shares during the period. Salesforce accounts for about 1.2% of BNP Paribas’ holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position. BNP Paribas’ holdings in Salesforce were worth $29,248,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Salesforce during the first quarter valued at about $874,748,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $733,805,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 48.3% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,518,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922,674 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 376.1% in the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,442,453 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $370,873,000 after purchasing an additional 1,139,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in Salesforce by 171.2% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $447,470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032,068 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CRM. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Phillip Securities restated an “accumulate” rating and set a $305.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $339.66.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM opened at $343.21 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $298.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $269.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market cap of $328.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $348.86.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 27.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.04, for a total value of $1,079,568.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,223,020.24. The trade was a 3.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total value of $608,108.04. Following the sale, the insider now owns 828 shares in the company, valued at $202,702.68. The trade was a 75.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 144,510 shares of company stock valued at $42,475,538. Company 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.