Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Lowers Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,989 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,334,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 300.0% during the third quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in Salesforce during the second quarter valued at $33,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 135.6% in the 3rd quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $60,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Cfra set a $343.00 target price on Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $376.05.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.82, for a total value of $1,213,044.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 118,514 shares in the company, valued at $34,229,213.48. This trade represents a 3.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,177,617 shares of company stock worth $403,542,975. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $319.39 on Tuesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $336.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $290.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market cap of $305.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.32%.

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.