Coldstream Capital Management Inc. Increases Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 38.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,010 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,440 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $6,657,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $13,432,855,000 after acquiring an additional 864,193 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,395,132,000 after purchasing an additional 257,501 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,360,215,000 after purchasing an additional 314,530 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Salesforce by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,141,562,000 after purchasing an additional 176,641 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Salesforce by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,632,599,000 after purchasing an additional 57,825 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.04, for a total transaction of $1,079,568.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,223,020.24. This trade represents a 3.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total transaction of $608,108.04. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $202,702.68. This represents a 75.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 140,982 shares of company stock valued at $41,591,457 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CRM shares. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Robert W. Baird lifted 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 price objective (up from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $372.86.

Salesforce Stock Down 2.9 %

Shares of CRM opened at $351.49 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $311.53 and its 200 day moving average is $273.32. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The company has a market capitalization of $336.38 billion, a PE ratio of 57.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

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.