Courier Capital LLC Decreases Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Courier Capital LLC reduced its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,995 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 275 shares during the period. Courier Capital LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $4,345,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 38.3% in the 2nd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 206 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 5.6% in the second quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 21,263 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,467,000 after buying an additional 1,120 shares during the last quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 8.2% in the second quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,773 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $713,000 after buying an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 3.0% during the second quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 10,743 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,762,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Perspectives Inc grew its stake in Salesforce by 197.3% during the 2nd quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 223 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $319.39 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $336.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $290.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $305.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.82, for a total transaction of $1,213,044.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 118,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,229,213.48. The trade was a 3.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the 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 directly owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at $1,998,741.74. This trade represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,177,617 shares of company stock worth $403,542,975 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $415.00 price target (up previously from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Northland Securities restated an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $376.05.

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.