Simmons Bank Decreases Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Simmons Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 33,526 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 346 shares during the period. Salesforce comprises about 0.8% of Simmons Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $11,209,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Salesforce by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $13,432,855,000 after buying an additional 864,193 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,395,132,000 after buying an additional 257,501 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 2.6% during 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 buying an additional 314,530 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 57,825 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,912,854 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,618,407,000 after acquiring an additional 96,381 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.7 %

CRM opened at $306.02 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $331.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $306.97. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The firm has a market cap of $292.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.33, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 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 company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $1,104,786,234.99. This trade represents a 18.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total transaction of $109,965,671.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,217,696,838.46. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock worth $381,283,706. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $374.47.

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.