Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd Has $1.35 Million Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd grew its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 3,052.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,035 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,907 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,349,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 85.1% in the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Collier Financial acquired a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $430.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. KeyCorp upgraded Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Guggenheim reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $247.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $361.42.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $240.26 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $230.89 billion, a PE ratio of 39.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $302.46 and a 200-day moving average of $311.39. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one 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.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. This is a boost from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.88, for a total transaction of $2,052,183.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,128,626.68. The trade was a 11.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 652 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $216,646.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 121,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,361,054.76. This trade represents a 0.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,660 shares of company stock valued at $14,095,336 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.