Assetmark Inc. Acquires 42,903 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 32.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 174,240 shares of the CRM provider's stock after acquiring an additional 42,903 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $58,254,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nvest Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Nvest Financial LLC now owns 2,806 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $938,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. OMC Financial Services LTD boosted its position in Salesforce by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. OMC Financial Services LTD now owns 11,390 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 787 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Sachetta LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 11,018 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $3,684,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, Prossimo Advisors LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 3,366 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,125,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CRM. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price target on Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirty-two have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $365.32.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM traded up $4.71 on Wednesday, hitting $292.05. The company had a trading volume of 6,608,388 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,871,845. The stock has a market cap of $279.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $325.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $308.21. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00. 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 (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. Analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce's payout ratio is 25.16%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total transaction of $249,995,253.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,192,009 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,104,786,234.99. This trade represents a 18.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robin L. Washington purchased 1,695 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was bought at an average price of $294.61 per share, with a total value of $499,363.95. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 43,445 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,799,331.45. This trade represents a 4.06 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,108,793 shares of company stock worth $383,156,227. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

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.