CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong Makes New Investment in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 38,000 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,999,000. Salesforce comprises about 0.9% of CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Salesforce by 333.3% during the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Salesforce by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 270 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, Live Oak Investment Partners bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $342.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price objective (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Salesforce from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $307.87.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.06, for a total transaction of $4,170,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,913,721 shares in the company, valued at $3,590,789,261.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.06, for a total transaction of $4,170,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,913,721 shares in the company, valued at $3,590,789,261.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,074 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.00, for a total value of $2,009,016.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 38,993 shares in the company, valued at $11,074,012. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 912,375 shares of company stock worth $264,376,996 in the last three months. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:CRM traded down $1.09 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $276.32. The company had a trading volume of 4,197,772 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,706,727. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.57 and a 12 month high of $318.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market cap of $268.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.90, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $298.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $260.79.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.52%.

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.