Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Cuts Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,989 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,334,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $13,432,855,000 after acquiring an additional 864,193 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,395,132,000 after purchasing an additional 257,501 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,360,215,000 after purchasing an additional 314,530 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.2% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,141,562,000 after buying an additional 176,641 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,632,599,000 after buying an additional 57,825 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Northland Capmk upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Northland Securities restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $440.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $376.05.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $319.39 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $336.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $290.19. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $305.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.53, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 6,161 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.75, for a total transaction of $1,785,149.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $280,767.75. The trade was a 86.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,177,617 shares of company stock worth $403,542,975 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by 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.