Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Sold by Tran Capital Management L.P.

Tran Capital Management L.P. lowered its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 87,711 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 6,872 shares during the quarter. Salesforce makes up 3.3% of Tran Capital Management L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Tran Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $29,324,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the third quarter worth about $1,215,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $15,885,000 after acquiring an additional 6,938 shares during the period. Aljian Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,629,000 after acquiring an additional 1,834 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $6,577,000 after acquiring an additional 1,962 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,395,132,000 after purchasing an additional 257,501 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.4 %

CRM stock opened at $333.47 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $319.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.85, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $336.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $294.01. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month 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 the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. 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 previous year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on CRM shares. Loop Capital boosted their target price on Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective (up from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.63.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total transaction of $249,995,253.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,192,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,104,786,234.99. This represents a 18.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.00, for a total value of $2,133,803.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,474,323. This trade represents a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,173,891 shares of company stock worth $402,840,388. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.