Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group Reduces Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group lessened its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 35.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 102 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 57 shares during the quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $27,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,509,345 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $9,091,832,000 after buying an additional 391,648 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 19,003,836 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,519,719,000 after buying an additional 149,012 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,195,108 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,270,144,000 after buying an additional 121,436 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,420,381,000. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 125,717.4% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,260,412 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,360,428,000 after buying an additional 10,252,257 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total transaction of $60,201.36. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $799,618.99. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,074 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.00, for a total value of $2,009,016.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 38,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,074,012. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total transaction of $60,201.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $799,618.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 628,184 shares of company stock valued at $184,794,698. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on CRM. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, April 15th. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $365.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective (up from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, April 12th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $307.87.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE CRM opened at $270.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $297.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $261.43. The company has a market capitalization of $262.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.28. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.57 and a 12 month high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The company’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 9.52%.

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.