Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Sells 68,214 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 30.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 159,048 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 68,214 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $43,533,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Veritas Asset Management LLP bought a new position in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth $733,805,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 48.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,518,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922,674 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Salesforce by 171.2% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $447,470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032,068 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 23,664.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,002,848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $274,490,000 after buying an additional 998,628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 51.0% in the 2nd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,946,838 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $757,632,000 after buying an additional 994,670 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE:CRM opened at $331.77 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $317.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $304.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $271.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week high of $348.86.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The company’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Salesforce from $305.00 to $385.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup upped their price target on Salesforce from $290.00 to $368.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, FBN Securities upgraded Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $345.31.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $255,905.13. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 52,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,100,399.70. The trade was a 1.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 140,982 shares of company stock worth $41,591,457 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce 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.