Chickasaw Capital Management LLC Sells 70 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Chickasaw Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,165 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 70 shares during the quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,730,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aviance Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,860,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. EWA LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. EWA LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $548,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Umpqua Bank raised its holdings in Salesforce by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 7,708 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,110,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Principal Street Partners LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 3,297 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $891,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, Nvwm LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 1.4% during the third quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 2,565 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $667,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Salesforce stock traded down $6.59 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $323.94. The company had a trading volume of 3,351,142 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,443,352. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $310.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $333.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $287.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $375.39.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.87, for a total value of $1,217,454.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 118,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,353,653.18. The trade was a 3.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total transaction of $109,965,671.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. This trade represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,181,817 shares of company stock worth $404,760,429 over the last quarter. 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.