LMR Partners LLP Makes New $1.05 Million Investment in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 3,839 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,051,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of CRM. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA increased its stake in Salesforce by 3.8% in the third quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA now owns 1,319 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Aljian Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834 shares during the period. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 7,934 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,172,000 after buying an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Westfuller Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $280,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Salesforce by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 832,881 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $227,967,000 after buying an additional 13,793 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Miguel Milano sold 2,934 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.95, for a total transaction of $771,495.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $977,122.20. This trade represents a 44.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 140,173 shares of company stock worth $40,146,206. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Salesforce from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $425.00 price target for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Salesforce from $295.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $325.36.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $323.29 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $309.07 billion, a PE ratio of 56.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $289.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $267.31. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week high of $348.86.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.83%.

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.