Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Sold by Beech Hill Advisors Inc.

Beech Hill Advisors Inc. lowered its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 14,465 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 270 shares during the period. Salesforce accounts for about 1.8% of Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $4,836,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 300.0% in the third quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Annapolis Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 135.6% during the third quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the topic of several analyst reports. DA Davidson raised their target price on Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Cfra set a $343.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $376.05.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE CRM traded down $0.98 on Thursday, reaching $320.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 256,059 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,635,833. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $336.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $290.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market cap of $306.41 billion, a PE ratio of 52.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.62 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 1,785 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.00, for a total value of $614,040.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,575,904. This trade represents a 8.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,177,617 shares of company stock worth $403,542,975 over the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.