Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Sold by Bailard Inc.

Bailard Inc. cut its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,594 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 506 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $5,156,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 226.5% in the third quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 320 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 25.7% in the third quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 4,411 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $894,000 after acquiring an additional 901 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 3.1% in the third quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,840 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $373,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter worth $237,000. Finally, Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth about $226,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $365.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.61.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:CRM traded down $4.24 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $271.95. 3,055,649 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,663,743. The stock has a market capitalization of $263.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $296.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $263.37. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.57 and a 12 month high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.01 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 9.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total transaction of $662,388.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,599,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total transaction of $662,388.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,599,566.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.12, for a total value of $2,831,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares in the company, valued at $17,104,977.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 616,589 shares of company stock worth $181,071,306. Corporate insiders own 3.70% 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.