Sunbelt Securities Inc. Has $1.41 Million Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. reduced its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 22.1% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,468 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 1,547 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,406,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,635,254 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $25,490,446,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008,841 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in Salesforce by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,561,325 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,147,402,000 after acquiring an additional 457,463 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,905,462 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,922,223,000 after purchasing an additional 736,986 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Salesforce by 26.9% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,329,925,000 after buying an additional 3,044,611 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its stake in Salesforce by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,116,449 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,251,592,000 after acquiring an additional 407,834 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $273.68 on Tuesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $193.68 and a twelve month high of $318.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $256.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $264.81. The firm has a market cap of $265.20 billion, a PE ratio of 49.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.29.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CRM. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $234.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 19th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $342.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on Salesforce from $285.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $308.03.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director Maynard G. Webb, Jr. sold 9,170 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.32, for a total value of $2,533,854.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,363 shares in the company, valued at $376,624.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Maynard G. Webb, Jr. sold 9,170 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.32, for a total value of $2,533,854.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,363 shares in the company, valued at $376,624.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.75, for a total transaction of $1,061,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 116,693 shares in the company, valued at $29,494,155.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 67,985 shares of company stock valued at $17,632,363. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.