Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. Sells 50 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. cut its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,590 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 50 shares during the period. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $983,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CRM. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Salesforce by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,243 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,172,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Coastline Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.2% during the third quarter. Coastline Trust Co now owns 6,406 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,753,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 33,203 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $9,088,000 after purchasing an additional 757 shares in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 26,183 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $7,166,000 after purchasing an additional 615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 16.4% during the 3rd quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 220,843 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $60,447,000 after purchasing an additional 31,099 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value 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 $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.97, for a total value of $1,104,474.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,920,275.57. The trade was a 3.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 144,373 shares of company stock valued at $41,250,680. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Wedbush boosted their price target on Salesforce from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Northland Capmk upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America upped their target price on Salesforce from $325.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $322.51.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $325.28 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $286.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $266.64. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $348.86. The firm has a market cap of $310.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 27.83%.

About Salesforce

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.