Marco Investment Management LLC Has $13.35 Million Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Marco Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,719 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 1,698 shares during the period. Salesforce makes up approximately 1.4% of Marco Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Marco Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $13,346,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 333.3% in the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 892.9% in the fourth quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on CRM. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $342.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.61.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total transaction of $662,388.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,599,566.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total transaction of $662,388.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,599,566.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.05, for a total value of $4,275,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,656,166 shares in the company, valued at $3,892,690,118.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 620,793 shares of company stock valued at $182,177,918. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of CRM stock traded up $1.15 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $274.29. 3,754,585 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,162,527. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $295.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $264.71. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.76 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market cap of $266.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.28.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Salesforce 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.