Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Trims Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC cut its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 69.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,142 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 2,637 shares during the quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $382,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in Salesforce by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $13,432,855,000 after acquiring an additional 864,193 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,395,132,000 after acquiring an additional 257,501 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,360,215,000 after purchasing an additional 314,530 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Salesforce by 1.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,632,599,000 after purchasing an additional 57,825 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted 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 during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Trading Up 4.0 %

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $347.26 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $332.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.30. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $336.73 and a 200 day moving average of $294.60.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted 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). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.23, for a total value of $145,115.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,888,236.38. This represents a 7.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total value of $1,178,057.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 119,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,431,349.48. The trade was a 3.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,109,169 shares of company stock valued at $383,432,020. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CRM shares. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Bank of America raised their price target on Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Loop Capital lifted their price target on Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Northland Securities reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.63.

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.