TCW Group Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

TCW Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 28.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 564,854 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 227,870 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises 1.4% of TCW Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $154,606,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Veritas Asset Management LLP purchased a new position in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $733,805,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 48.3% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,518,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922,674 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 171.2% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $447,470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032,068 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 23,664.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,002,848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $274,490,000 after purchasing an additional 998,628 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 51.0% in the 2nd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,946,838 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $757,632,000 after purchasing an additional 994,670 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Northland Capmk upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. 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 research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Cfra set a $343.00 price target on Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $335.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Phillip Securities reissued an “accumulate” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, August 30th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $372.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.04, for a total value of $1,079,568.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,223,020.24. The trade was a 3.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $18,156,600.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 138,498 shares of company stock valued at $40,983,349 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $348.84 on Wednesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The stock has a market cap of $333.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.38, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $311.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $273.32. 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 (NYSE:CRM) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.32%.

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.