Rhumbline Advisers Sells 56,010 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Rhumbline Advisers lowered its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,777,774 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 56,010 shares during the period. Salesforce accounts for approximately 0.5% of Rhumbline Advisers’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in Salesforce were worth $594,363,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. ABC Arbitrage SA bought a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,476,000. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,724 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,933,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. PICTET BANK & TRUST Ltd grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. PICTET BANK & TRUST Ltd now owns 5,112 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,709,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 80,000 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $26,746,000 after purchasing an additional 744 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. lifted its stake in Salesforce by 78.4% in the fourth quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 5,482 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,903,000 after buying an additional 2,409 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on CRM shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 price objective (up previously from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One equities 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.63.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $325.49 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $311.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $337.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $302.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Miguel Milano sold 719 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.81, for a total transaction of $246,480.39. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,597,151.79. This trade represents a 13.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,344,899.96. This represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock worth $384,366,700 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.