Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC Trims Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 46.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,391 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 27,528 shares during the quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $10,495,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,473 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $12,194,000 after buying an additional 4,752 shares during the period. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,215,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 13.6% in the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $15,885,000 after purchasing an additional 6,938 shares during the period. Athena Investment Management bought a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $236,000. Finally, Aljian Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $292.60 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $280.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.13, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $328.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $308.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two 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 the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CRM. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Salesforce from $415.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $345.00 to $310.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $380.00 to $400.00 in a report on Friday, January 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirty-two have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $365.32.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, Director Robin L. Washington bought 1,695 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $294.61 per share, with a total value of $499,363.95. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 43,445 shares in the company, valued at $12,799,331.45. This represents a 4.06 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.00, for a total value of $2,133,803.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 53,861 shares in the company, valued at $18,474,323. This trade represents a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock valued at $381,283,706. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.