AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Has $271,000 Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc raised its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 1,610.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,009 shares of the CRM provider's stock after acquiring an additional 950 shares during the quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's holdings in Salesforce were worth $271,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

• Salesforce’s Stock Price Presents an Opportunity to Buy

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Romano Brothers AND Company raised its position in Salesforce by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 3,973 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,066,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. CGN Advisors LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. CGN Advisors LLC now owns 11,435 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $3,069,000 after purchasing an additional 933 shares during the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the first quarter valued at about $975,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 415.7% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 954 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 769 shares during the period. Finally, Smith Anglin Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 108.4% in the first quarter. Smith Anglin Financial LLC now owns 1,669 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $448,000 after acquiring an additional 868 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on CRM. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $347.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Northland Securities lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $423.00 to $396.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $346.34.

• MarketBeat Week in Review – 05/19 - 05/23

View Our Latest Stock Report on Salesforce

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total transaction of $1,975,615.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 41,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,219,490. This represents a 13.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 6,959 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total value of $1,762,784.29. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 36,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,141,957.90. The trade was a 16.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 40,332 shares of company stock valued at $11,024,802 in the last three months. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.1%

• 3 Reasons Salesforce Could Be Back at All-Time Highs by June

Shares of CRM stock opened at $264.56 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $252.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.51, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $266.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $303.58. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $227.77 and a 52-week high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. Salesforce's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.44 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. This is a positive change from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.98%.

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.

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