Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 38,727 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 547 shares during the quarter. Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $10,191,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Central Valley Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $1,548,000. King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 244,471 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $64,330,000 after buying an additional 7,847 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,094 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,604,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. Capital Management Associates NY purchased a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $921,000. Finally, Seven Mile Advisory lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 1,366 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $359,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM traded up $0.06 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $283.82. The stock had a trading volume of 3,305,869 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,311,462. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $274.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.04, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $288.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $273.61. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $193.68 and a twelve month high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.01 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.52%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.90, for a total value of $4,303,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,512,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,589,786,616.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.90, for a total transaction of $4,303,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,512,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,589,786,616.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 24,453 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.08, for a total transaction of $7,386,762.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 640,499 shares of company stock valued at $186,305,734 in the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $365.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.61.

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.