Newman Dignan & Sheerar Inc. Sells 35 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Newman Dignan & Sheerar Inc. lessened its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,878 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 35 shares during the period. Newman Dignan & Sheerar Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,297,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Veritas Asset Management LLP acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth $733,805,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 52.7% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,433,785 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,482,347,000 after buying an additional 1,530,572 shares during the period. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 46.7% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,829,773 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,280,408,000 after buying an additional 1,219,254 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 171.2% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $447,470,000 after buying an additional 1,032,068 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 23,664.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,002,848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $274,490,000 after buying an additional 998,628 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CRM. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Northland Securities reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $440.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.63.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of CRM opened at $325.49 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $337.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $302.33. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The firm has a market cap of $311.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31. 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 announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 26.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. This trade represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.00, for a total transaction of $2,133,803.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,861 shares in the company, valued at $18,474,323. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock worth $384,366,700. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce 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.