Sycomore Asset Management Increases Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Sycomore Asset Management raised its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 60,030 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,604 shares during the quarter. Salesforce makes up about 3.4% of Sycomore Asset Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Sycomore Asset Management’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $16,011,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 333.3% in the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 892.9% in the 4th quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the subject of several recent research reports. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $342.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Argus upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.61.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.79, for a total value of $4,211,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,671,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,838,726,701.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total transaction of $662,388.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,599,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.79, for a total transaction of $4,211,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,671,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,838,726,701.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 616,589 shares of company stock valued at $181,071,306. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock traded down $0.49 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $276.19. 3,934,969 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,697,396. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market cap of $267.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.28. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.57 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $296.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $263.37.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The business’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.52%.

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.