Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Increases Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 51.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,513 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,524 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,188,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. raised its position in Salesforce by 333.3% in the fourth 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. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 892.9% in the fourth quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.12, for a total transaction of $2,831,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,104,977.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.12, for a total value of $2,831,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,104,977.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total value of $662,388.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,599,566.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 620,793 shares of company stock valued at $182,177,918 in the last three months. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on CRM shares. Wedbush lifted their target price on Salesforce from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Salesforce from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 target price (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Nine investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.61.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:CRM opened at $274.29 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $295.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $264.30. The stock 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.76 and a 1 year 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.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.52%.

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.