Two Sigma Advisers LP Increases Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1,904.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 150,300 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 142,800 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $50,250,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 85.1% during the 4th 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $287.03 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $275.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.42. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $268.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $307.16.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. This is an increase from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 26.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $430.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $330.00 to $300.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $310.00 to $255.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $405.00 to $393.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $352.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider Miguel Milano sold 458 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total transaction of $141,050.26. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,805,936.08. The trade was a 7.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,909 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total value of $543,263.22. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,310 shares in the company, valued at $3,218,599.80. The trade was a 14.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,306 shares of company stock valued at $12,841,368 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.