Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Sold by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC reduced its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 533,151 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 20,475 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $174,938,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. United Bank lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 7,303 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,999,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 34,918 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $9,558,000 after purchasing an additional 4,489 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 36.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 390 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,104 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $850,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 154,793 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $42,368,000 after buying an additional 9,229 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $415.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $345.00 to $310.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $415.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $361.42.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $240.26 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $302.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $311.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $230.89 billion, a PE ratio of 39.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. This is a positive change from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.88, for a total transaction of $2,052,183.48. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 45,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,128,626.68. The trade was a 11.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 652 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $216,646.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 121,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,361,054.76. This represents a 0.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,660 shares of company stock valued at $14,095,336 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.