Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. Invests $3.67 Million in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 13,414 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,672,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 2.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,360,215,000 after buying an additional 314,530 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.2% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,141,562,000 after acquiring an additional 176,641 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,632,599,000 after acquiring an additional 57,825 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,912,854 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,618,407,000 after acquiring an additional 96,381 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Salesforce by 25.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,378,826 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,125,331,000 after purchasing an additional 877,495 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 3,528 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.59, for a total value of $884,081.52. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,464,622.79. This represents a 2.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 144,510 shares of company stock worth $42,475,538 in the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Salesforce from $325.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $305.00 to $385.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Phillip Securities restated an “accumulate” rating and set a $305.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price objective on Salesforce from $342.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $339.66.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE CRM traded up $1.25 on Tuesday, reaching $340.36. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 676,947 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,279,774. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $348.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $325.38 billion, a PE ratio of 58.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $296.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $268.98.

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 company had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The company’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. 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 payout ratio is 27.83%.

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.