Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY Reduces Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY reduced its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 249,280 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 12,561 shares during the period. Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $65,596,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,633 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $534,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Pure Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Riversedge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 21.7% during the 3rd quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 2,353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $477,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the period. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,499,000. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 47.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 2,499,630 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $506,875,000 after buying an additional 804,634 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.28, for a total value of $2,702,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 59,861 shares in the company, valued at $16,179,231.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.77, for a total transaction of $4,046,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,791,166 shares in the company, valued at $3,720,442,851.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.28, for a total transaction of $2,702,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,179,231.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 907,375 shares of company stock worth $262,519,346. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of CRM traded down $4.83 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $294.32. The company had a trading volume of 3,819,966 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,433,955. The firm has a market capitalization of $285.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.28. 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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $298.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $259.37. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.45 and a 1 year high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. UBS Group increased their target price on Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $305.77.

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.