Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 18.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,091 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 1,172 shares during the period. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,702,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. RBA Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. RBA Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,172 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,426,000 after purchasing an additional 574 shares in the last quarter. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 6.5% in the third quarter. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,458 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $705,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 8.3% in the third quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC now owns 994 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 71.4% in the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 20,121 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,513,000 after acquiring an additional 8,385 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.2% during the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 79,256 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $21,693,000 after purchasing an additional 1,695 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $325.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $338.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $300.36. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The stock has a market cap of $311.80 billion, a PE ratio of 53.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 652 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $216,646.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 121,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,361,054.76. This represents a 0.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,474,323. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock worth $384,366,700 over the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on CRM. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Loop Capital raised their price objective on Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.63.

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.