LMR Partners LLP Buys Shares of 3,839 Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

LMR Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 3,839 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,051,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CRM. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $15,885,000 after buying an additional 6,938 shares in the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 16.1% during the third quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834 shares in 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 worth $6,577,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962 shares during the period. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. boosted its stake in Salesforce by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 89,098 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $24,387,000 after purchasing an additional 10,656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XN LP increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 24.2% during the 2nd quarter. XN LP now owns 464,489 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $119,420,000 after purchasing an additional 90,616 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 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 $117,824.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total value of $1,178,057.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 119,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,431,349.48. This represents a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 140,173 shares of company stock worth $40,146,206 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $323.29 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $309.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $289.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $267.31. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $348.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The firm had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 27.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Salesforce from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Northland Securities upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $270.00 to $400.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Cfra set a $343.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on Salesforce from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $325.36.

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.