Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Lowers Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. reduced its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,712 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 52 shares during the period. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,575,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. increased its stake in Salesforce by 300.0% in the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 135.6% during the 3rd quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Salesforce during the third quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.94, for a total value of $2,089,882.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,750 shares in the company, valued at $15,705,195. The trade was a 11.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.94, for a total value of $167,970.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,202,758.58. This trade represents a 7.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock valued at $384,366,700 over the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $347.41 on Thursday. 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 company has a market cap of $332.47 billion, a PE ratio of 57.14, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $339.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $299.65.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.62 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CRM. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 price target (up from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.63.

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.