Byrne Asset Management LLC Reduces Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Byrne Asset Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,069 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 90 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises 1.0% of Byrne Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Byrne Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,360,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,473 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $12,194,000 after acquiring an additional 4,752 shares during the last quarter. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,215,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 13.6% in the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $15,885,000 after acquiring an additional 6,938 shares in the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834 shares during the period. Finally, AIA Group Ltd increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 8.9% during the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $6,577,000 after buying an additional 1,962 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. The trade was a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 14,808 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.95, for a total value of $5,019,171.60. 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 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM opened at $325.81 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The company has a 50 day moving average of $339.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $299.87. The company has a market cap of $311.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released 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 net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.62 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Northland Securities reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 price target (up from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Loop Capital boosted their target price on Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Cfra set a $343.00 price target on Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.63.

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.