Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) is Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC’s 6th Largest Position

Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 191,394 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 9,447 shares during the quarter. Salesforce makes up about 2.6% of Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $52,387,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,360,215,000 after acquiring an additional 314,530 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.2% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,141,562,000 after purchasing an additional 176,641 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,632,599,000 after purchasing an additional 57,825 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Salesforce by 1.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,912,854 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,618,407,000 after purchasing an additional 96,381 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Salesforce by 25.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,378,826 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,125,331,000 after buying an additional 877,495 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, insider Miguel Milano sold 719 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.81, for a total transaction of $246,480.39. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,659 shares in the company, valued at $1,597,151.79. This represents a 13.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 140,982 shares of company stock valued at $41,591,457. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on CRM shares. Phillip Securities restated an “accumulate” rating and set a $305.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, August 30th. Citigroup upped their target price on Salesforce from $290.00 to $368.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Salesforce from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Wedbush increased their price objective on Salesforce from $325.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $345.31.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $331.77 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $317.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $304.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $271.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $348.86. 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 Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.83%.

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