FOCUS Wealth Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

FOCUS Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,087 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 121 shares during the quarter. Salesforce accounts for 1.4% of FOCUS Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. FOCUS Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,704,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CRM. Veritas Asset Management LLP acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter worth $733,805,000. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 171.2% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $447,470,000 after acquiring an additional 1,032,068 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 23,664.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,002,848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $274,490,000 after acquiring an additional 998,628 shares during the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 51.0% in the second quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,946,838 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $757,632,000 after acquiring an additional 994,670 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 25.1% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,378,826 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,125,331,000 after acquiring an additional 877,495 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, COO Brian Millham sold 6,161 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $280,767.75. The trade was a 86.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.82, for a total transaction of $1,213,044.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 118,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,229,213.48. This trade represents a 3.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,183,838 shares of company stock worth $405,595,158 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.63.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of CRM opened at $324.77 on Monday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $337.31 and its 200-day moving average is $291.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $310.81 billion, a PE ratio of 53.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

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.