Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI Reduces Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI lessened its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,324 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 349 shares during the period. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $4,381,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. OMC Financial Services LTD grew its holdings in Salesforce by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. OMC Financial Services LTD now owns 11,390 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 787 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Prossimo Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 3,366 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,125,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Mainstream Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Mainstream Capital Management LLC now owns 6,409 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,143,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 896 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider R David Schmaier sold 6,959 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total transaction of $1,762,784.29. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,141,957.90. This represents a 16.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,256 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total value of $318,157.36. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,248,954.06. This represents a 8.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 40,332 shares of company stock valued at $11,024,802 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Loop Capital lowered their price target on Salesforce from $330.00 to $300.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Salesforce from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $346.34.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE:CRM opened at $272.36 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $266.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $301.70. The stock has a market cap of $260.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $227.77 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.44 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be issued a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

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.