Parnassus Investments LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Parnassus Investments LLC cut its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 10.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,436,052 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 619,610 shares during the period. Salesforce comprises 3.2% of Parnassus Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Parnassus Investments LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,487,902,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 13.6% in the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $15,885,000 after purchasing an additional 6,938 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 8.9% in the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $6,577,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962 shares in the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 16.1% in the third quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 13.6% in the third quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 89,098 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $24,387,000 after purchasing an additional 10,656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XN LP increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 24.2% in the second quarter. XN LP now owns 464,489 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $119,420,000 after purchasing an additional 90,616 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of CRM opened at $322.25 on Tuesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $348.86. The company has a 50-day moving average of $288.14 and a 200 day moving average of $266.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $308.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.04, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. Salesforce’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total transaction of $1,178,057.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 119,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,431,349.48. The trade was a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 140,173 shares of company stock valued at $40,146,206. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on CRM. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Phillip Securities reaffirmed an “accumulate” rating and set a $305.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Cfra set a $343.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $325.36.

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.