Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC Trims Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC lessened its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 56 shares during the quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $421,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Veritas Asset Management LLP purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at about $733,805,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 52.7% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,433,785 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,482,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,530,572 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 46.7% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,829,773 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,280,408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219,254 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 171.2% during the third 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 last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 56,872.2% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 933,204 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $311,998,000 after purchasing an additional 931,566 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $345.00 to $310.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Salesforce from $415.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $365.32.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total value of $249,995,253.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,192,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,104,786,234.99. The trade was a 18.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,344,899.96. This trade represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,102,572 shares of company stock worth $381,283,706 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $297.63 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $329.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $307.21. The firm has a market cap of $284.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.62 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.