Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Acquired by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 238,731 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,752 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $79,815,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. DGS Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $285,000. Sachetta LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 11,018 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,684,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. raised its holdings in Salesforce by 7,486.6% in the 4th quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 93,467 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $31,277,000 after purchasing an additional 92,235 shares during the period. CX Institutional boosted its position in Salesforce by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 5,858 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,959,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 59.2% in the fourth quarter. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC now owns 39,800 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $13,306,000 after buying an additional 14,800 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CRM. Cfra set a $343.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Northland Securities restated an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 price target (up previously from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Loop Capital raised their target price on Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.63.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $333.47 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00. 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 cap of $319.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.85, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $336.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $293.49.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The business had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total transaction of $109,965,671.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,217,696,838.46. This trade represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 708 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $235,254.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 1,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $411,694.92. This represents a 36.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,173,891 shares of company stock valued at $402,840,388 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.