Symmetry Investments LP Invests $3.65 Million in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Symmetry Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 10,923 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,652,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,955,353 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $6,656,078,000 after buying an additional 175,035 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,453,872 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $4,163,703,000 after acquiring an additional 177,321 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,599,867,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 23.2% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,938,536 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,988,422,000 after purchasing an additional 1,683,233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 42.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,791,015 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,604,770,000 after purchasing an additional 2,325,156 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.94, for a total transaction of $167,970.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,202,758.58. This represents a 7.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 458 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total value of $141,050.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,864 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,805,936.08. This represents a 7.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 52,051 shares of company stock valued at $15,027,714. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CRM. Macquarie reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $415.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $210.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $351.37.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM traded up $3.17 on Friday, hitting $267.87. The stock had a trading volume of 5,649,322 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,811,847. The company has a market capitalization of $257.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.06, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 firm's 50 day moving average price is $274.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $308.44. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. This is a boost from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.10%.

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.