Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Sells 3,127 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC decreased its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 128,006 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 3,127 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises about 2.8% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $33,683,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. boosted its stake in Salesforce by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 4,468 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $949,000 after buying an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Roundview Capital LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 18.8% during the 1st quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 24,037 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,104,000 after purchasing an additional 3,809 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 42.8% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 621 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $132,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. Ergoteles LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at about $455,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in Salesforce by 21.3% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 860,950 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $182,797,000 after purchasing an additional 151,440 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total transaction of $60,201.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $799,618.99. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.61, for a total transaction of $3,774,150.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,896,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,496,414,327.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total value of $60,201.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $799,618.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 901,258 shares of company stock worth $256,569,563 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of CRM stock opened at $301.18 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $187.31 and a 12-month high of $318.71. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $294.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $252.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market capitalization of $292.14 billion, a PE ratio of 71.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.28.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 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 business had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. Salesforce’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 9.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James upped their price target on Salesforce from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. TheStreet raised Salesforce from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $304.32.

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.