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

Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC lowered its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 56 shares during the period. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $421,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Veritas Asset Management LLP purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth about $733,805,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew 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 buying an additional 1,530,572 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 46.7% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,829,773 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,280,408,000 after buying an additional 1,219,254 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 171.2% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $447,470,000 after buying an additional 1,032,068 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 56,872.2% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 933,204 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $311,998,000 after acquiring an additional 931,566 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CRM shares. KeyCorp raised shares of Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $345.00 to $310.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Salesforce from $430.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $365.32.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.9 %

Salesforce stock opened at $297.63 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The company has a market cap of $284.83 billion, a PE ratio of 48.95, a PEG ratio of 2.58 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. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $329.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $307.21.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value 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 represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 53,861 shares in the company, valued at $18,474,323. The trade was a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock valued at $381,283,706. Company 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.