Roanoke Asset Management Corp NY Cuts Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Roanoke Asset Management Corp NY cut its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 21,565 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. Salesforce makes up about 2.3% of Roanoke Asset Management Corp NY’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Roanoke Asset Management Corp NY’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $7,210,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Arlington Trust Co LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 85.1% in the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Collier Financial purchased a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the third quarter valued at $27,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total value of $109,965,671.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. This represents a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock worth $381,283,706 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on CRM shares. Barclays upped their price objective on Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Salesforce from $345.00 to $310.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Macquarie cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $370.00 to $320.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Guggenheim restated a “sell” rating and issued a $247.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $430.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirty-two have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $365.32.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $297.63 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $284.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.95, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. The business’s 50 day moving average is $329.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $307.21. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. Research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

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.