Everest Management Corp. Buys New Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Everest Management Corp. purchased a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 2,230 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $746,000. Salesforce comprises about 0.7% of Everest Management Corp.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Nvest Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Nvest Financial LLC now owns 2,806 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $938,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. OMC Financial Services LTD lifted its stake in Salesforce by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. OMC Financial Services LTD now owns 11,390 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 787 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Sachetta LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 11,018 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,684,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prossimo Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 3,366 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,125,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on CRM shares. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $430.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Salesforce from $345.00 to $310.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $360.76.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $298,055.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,534,090. The trade was a 1.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Oscar Munoz purchased 3,882 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $257.28 per share, for a total transaction of $998,760.96. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 11,843 shares in the company, valued at $3,046,967.04. The trade was a 48.76 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 39,439 shares of company stock worth $12,043,153. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of CRM stock opened at $254.77 on Wednesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The company has a market capitalization of $244.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.90, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $285.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $310.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is an increase from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.10%.

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.