Stratos Investment Management LLC Reduces Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Stratos Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,534 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 2,106 shares during the quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $9,206,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 864,193 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,395,132,000 after purchasing an additional 257,501 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised 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 worth $3,360,215,000 after purchasing an additional 314,530 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,632,599,000 after purchasing an additional 57,825 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,912,854 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,618,407,000 after purchasing an additional 96,381 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.94, for a total value of $167,970.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,202,758.58. The trade was a 7.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.00, for a total transaction of $2,133,803.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,474,323. The trade was a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock worth $384,366,700. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on CRM shares. Guggenheim lowered shares of Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, January 6th. Loop Capital lifted their price target on Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.63.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $344.07 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $338.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $298.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $329.28 billion, a PE ratio of 56.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week high of $369.00.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

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.