Equitable Trust Co. Reduces Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Equitable Trust Co. reduced its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 19.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,664 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 8,603 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $12,258,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CRM. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 300.0% in the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 135.6% in the 3rd quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth $53,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CRM shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.63.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.5 %

NYSE CRM opened at $325.81 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market cap of $311.80 billion, a PE ratio of 53.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $338.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $300.67. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.62 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, COO Brian Millham sold 14,808 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.95, for a total transaction of $5,019,171.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.94, for a total transaction of $167,970.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,557 shares in the company, valued at $2,202,758.58. The trade was a 7.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock worth $384,366,700. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.