Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 11.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 156,400 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 19,615 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $52,289,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. VanderPol Investments L.L.C. boosted its stake in Salesforce by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. VanderPol Investments L.L.C. now owns 1,169 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $391,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 46.7% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,829,773 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,280,408,000 after buying an additional 1,219,254 shares in the last quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,344 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,452,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Field & Main Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 7,810 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,611,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Allen Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 1,120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $375,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.00, for a total transaction of $2,133,803.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,474,323. The trade was a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 708 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $235,254.24. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 1,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $411,694.92. This represents a 36.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,109,169 shares of company stock valued at $383,432,020. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CRM shares. 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. Bank of America upped their price objective on Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Macquarie reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.63.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE:CRM traded down $6.86 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $353.10. 1,500,940 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,966,887. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $337.96 and its 200-day moving average is $296.02. The stock has a market cap of $337.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

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.