AMI Asset Management Corp Reduces Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

AMI Asset Management Corp lessened its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 235,514 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 3,974 shares during the period. Salesforce comprises 3.5% of AMI Asset Management Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. AMI Asset Management Corp’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $64,463,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Trajan Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 10.1% in the third quarter. Trajan Wealth LLC now owns 53,264 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $14,579,000 after buying an additional 4,881 shares in the last quarter. WD Rutherford LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.0% in the third quarter. WD Rutherford LLC now owns 13,981 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,827,000 after buying an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 6.4% during the third quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,382 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $652,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Jacobsen Capital Management lifted its position in Salesforce by 12.6% during the third quarter. Jacobsen Capital Management now owns 1,578 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $432,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 8.2% during the third quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 10,322 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,936,000 after purchasing an additional 779 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CRM. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 price objective (up previously from $300.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $315.00 price objective (up previously from $300.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $313.37.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM opened at $298.93 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $285.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.99, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a fifty day moving average of $271.04 and a 200 day moving average of $262.78. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $197.08 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 1,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.62, for a total transaction of $352,268.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at $29,585,731.22. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total value of $608,108.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,702.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.62, for a total transaction of $352,268.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,585,731.22. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 83,581 shares of company stock worth $22,616,017 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by 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.