Independent Franchise Partners LLP Has $611.15 Million Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Independent Franchise Partners LLP lessened its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 26.5% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,892,873 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 1,040,384 shares during the period. Salesforce makes up approximately 5.1% of Independent Franchise Partners LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Independent Franchise Partners LLP’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $611,148,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 4.5% in the second quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 277,596 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $58,645,000 after purchasing an additional 12,071 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 42.2% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 426,738 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $62,236,000 after buying an additional 126,547 shares during the last quarter. CV Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter worth about $211,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 43.3% in the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 32,092 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,779,000 after acquiring an additional 9,699 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EWA LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. EWA LLC now owns 1,405 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. 77.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE:CRM traded up $3.47 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $224.69. The stock had a trading volume of 1,951,896 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,425,020. The firm has a market capitalization of $218.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 139.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.18. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $126.34 and a one year high of $238.22. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $208.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $211.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 30th. The CRM provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.22. Salesforce had a return on equity of 7.67% and a net margin of 4.77%. The business had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 5.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CRM. HSBC began coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, September 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $267.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered Salesforce from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $251.00 to $278.00 in a research note on Monday, July 31st. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 31st. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $241.28.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.94, for a total transaction of $3,314,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,876,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,286,740,116.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 6,250 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.00, for a total value of $1,425,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 101,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,208,120. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.94, for a total transaction of $3,314,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,876,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,286,740,116.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 671,788 shares of company stock valued at $141,136,481 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

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 relationship intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer service and support at scale.