Good Life Advisors LLC Trims Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Good Life Advisors LLC cut its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 19.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,789 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 427 shares during the period. Good Life Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $598,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of CRM. Veritas Asset Management LLP purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the third quarter worth $733,805,000. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 52.7% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,433,785 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,482,347,000 after buying an additional 1,530,572 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in Salesforce by 46.7% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,829,773 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,280,408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219,254 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 171.2% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $447,470,000 after buying an additional 1,032,068 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 23,664.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,002,848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $274,490,000 after acquiring an additional 998,628 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CRM. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 price target (up from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $376.84.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.18, for a total transaction of $2,041,607.78. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,750 shares in the company, valued at $15,342,415. This represents a 11.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,344,899.96. The trade was a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,102,833 shares of company stock valued at $381,389,136 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.8 %

CRM opened at $318.76 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $334.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $304.76. The company has a market capitalization of $305.06 billion, a PE ratio of 52.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.31.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Salesforce 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.