Davidson Capital Management Inc. Trims Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Davidson Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 0.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,037 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 119 shares during the quarter. Salesforce accounts for 1.0% of Davidson Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Davidson Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,568,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 2.3% in the first quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC now owns 22,143 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $6,669,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the period. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% in the first quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 16,014 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,823,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Marest Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the first quarter worth $217,000. Albion Financial Group UT grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 8.8% in the first quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 7,891 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,377,000 after acquiring an additional 641 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BluePath Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 13.8% in the first quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC now owns 2,298 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $692,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM stock traded up $3.98 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $297.75. 1,179,691 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,298,259. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $270.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $262.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $288.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $197.08 and a 52 week high of $318.71.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on CRM. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Salesforce from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Wedbush upped their price target on Salesforce from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Northland Capmk raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Salesforce from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $313.37.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total transaction of $608,108.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $202,702.68. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 83,581 shares of company stock valued at $22,616,017 in the last 90 days. 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.