ARS Investment Partners LLC Grows Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

ARS Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 65,624 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,024 shares during the period. Salesforce accounts for 2.0% of ARS Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. ARS Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $21,940,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Salesforce by 14.5% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 96,205 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $24,734,000 after buying an additional 12,193 shares in the last quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $215,000. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 296,331 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $76,187,000 after purchasing an additional 23,750 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 2,405 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $618,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 7.0% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,315 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,634,000 after buying an additional 411 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM stock opened at $324.77 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $310.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The business has a fifty day moving average of $337.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $292.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CRM. Cfra set a $343.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Guggenheim lowered shares of Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.63.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.04, for a total value of $1,251,768.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 119,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,586,572.08. The trade was a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,173,477 shares of company stock valued at $402,596,964. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.