Aspiriant LLC Grows Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Aspiriant LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,585 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the quarter. Aspiriant LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,202,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc bought a new stake in Salesforce in the third quarter worth $1,215,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $15,885,000 after acquiring an additional 6,938 shares during the period. Aljian Capital Management LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,629,000 after acquiring an additional 1,834 shares during the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd lifted its position in Salesforce by 8.9% in the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,577,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,395,132,000 after purchasing an additional 257,501 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This trade represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $255,905.13. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,100,399.70. This represents a 1.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,173,477 shares of company stock worth $402,596,964. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM opened at $324.77 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $337.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $292.02. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $310.81 billion, a PE ratio of 53.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on CRM shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Northland Securities reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 price objective (up previously from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.63.

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.