Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Sold by HM Payson & Co.

HM Payson & Co. cut its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 9.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,180 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 433 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,259,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 35,220 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $9,268,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 66.3% during the fourth quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management now owns 1,567 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $412,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 7,881 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,206,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,951,415 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,566,055,000 after purchasing an additional 18,397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 32.6% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 789,525 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $207,756,000 after purchasing an additional 194,224 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $365.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Salesforce from $231.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $325.00 price target (down previously from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Salesforce from $345.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Salesforce from $350.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $292.79.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock traded down $9.09 during trading on Friday, hitting $243.97. 6,504,544 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,600,353. The stock has a market capitalization of $236.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $193.68 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $248.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $274.95.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.06. Salesforce had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 15.30%. The company had revenue of $9.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 9th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.45, for a total transaction of $4,131,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,662,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,487,837,972.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director G Mason Morfit acquired 428,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $233.17 per share, for a total transaction of $99,796,760.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,914,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $912,699,429.53. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.45, for a total value of $4,131,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,662,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,487,837,972.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 279,242 shares of company stock valued at $73,931,941 in the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.