E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB Sells 15,752 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB decreased its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 7.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 199,448 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 15,752 shares during the period. Salesforce makes up 1.6% of E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $66,681,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Annapolis Financial Services LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 135.6% during the 3rd quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $55,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CRM. Guggenheim cut Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 price objective (up previously from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Brian Millham sold 14,808 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.95, for a total value of $5,019,171.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.88, for a total value of $2,052,183.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 45,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,128,626.68. The trade was a 11.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,104,699 shares of company stock valued at $382,108,847. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of CRM opened at $339.28 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $338.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $297.99. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The firm has a market cap of $324.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.31. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data 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 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 the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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 was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio 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.