New Century Financial Group LLC Sells 328 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

New Century Financial Group LLC decreased its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 16.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,710 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 328 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $569,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Aviance Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,860,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. EWA LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.7% during the third quarter. EWA LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $548,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Umpqua Bank lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 7,708 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,110,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Principal Street Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.0% in the third quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 3,297 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $891,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nvwm LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% during the third quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 2,565 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $667,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total value of $109,965,671.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,217,696,838.46. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.04, for a total transaction of $1,251,768.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 119,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,586,572.08. The trade was a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,173,891 shares of company stock worth $402,840,388. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CRM. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Loop Capital raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.63.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $334.75 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $336.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $293.20. The company has a market capitalization of $320.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.06, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The business had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. Salesforce’s quarterly 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 fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Salesforce Company 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.