Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY Sells 145 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY lessened its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,995 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 145 shares during the quarter. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,007,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $13,432,855,000 after buying an additional 864,193 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,395,132,000 after acquiring an additional 257,501 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,360,215,000 after acquiring an additional 314,530 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Salesforce by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,141,562,000 after purchasing an additional 176,641 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,632,599,000 after purchasing an additional 57,825 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 price objective (up previously from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $376.05.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM opened at $319.39 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $336.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $290.19. The company has a market capitalization of $305.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.53, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, COO Brian Millham sold 6,161 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.75, for a total transaction of $1,785,149.75. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $280,767.75. This trade represents a 86.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.82, for a total transaction of $1,213,044.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 118,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,229,213.48. This represents a 3.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,177,617 shares of company stock valued at $403,542,975. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.