Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Decreases Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP decreased its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 24.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 464,634 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 149,107 shares during the quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $127,175,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CRM. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 1st quarter worth approximately $874,748,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $733,805,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 48.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,518,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922,674 shares during the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 376.1% during the 2nd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,442,453 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $370,873,000 after purchasing an additional 1,139,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 171.2% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $447,470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032,068 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $342.02 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $294.61 and a 200-day moving average of $268.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $326.97 billion, a PE ratio of 59.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $348.86.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The company’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, COO Brian Millham sold 14,808 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.95, for a total value of $5,019,171.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.04, for a total transaction of $1,251,768.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 119,402 shares in the company, valued at $35,586,572.08. This represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 147,991 shares of company stock worth $43,333,238. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the subject of several research reports. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $270.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Salesforce from $290.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Wedbush boosted their price target on Salesforce from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Northland Capmk upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Salesforce from $305.00 to $385.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $336.37.

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.