MetLife Investment Management LLC Sells 7,714 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

MetLife Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 287,637 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 7,714 shares during the period. Salesforce comprises 0.5% of MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $78,729,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Creekmur Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 90.3% during the 1st quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 255 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 10,990 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,310,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 53.5% during the 1st quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,609 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,087,000 after purchasing an additional 1,258 shares during the last quarter. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at about $208,000. Finally, Heartland Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,817,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This trade represents a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total transaction of $608,108.04. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,702.68. The trade was a 75.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 144,510 shares of company stock valued at $42,475,538 in the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas raised Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, August 26th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Salesforce from $290.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Salesforce from $234.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $339.66.

Salesforce Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $336.46 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $298.02 and its 200-day moving average is $269.44. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $348.86. The company has a market capitalization of $321.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.83%.

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.