Sapient Capital LLC Sells 61 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Sapient Capital LLC decreased its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,181 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 61 shares during the quarter. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,734,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. RBA Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3.7% in the third quarter. RBA Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,172 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,426,000 after buying an additional 574 shares during the period. Fiduciary Alliance LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 5.3% in the third quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 1,262 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $345,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. CX Institutional raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.0% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 5,637 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,543,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 8.0% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 233,743 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $63,978,000 after buying an additional 17,350 shares during the period. Finally, Boomfish Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.4% in the third quarter. Boomfish Wealth Group LLC now owns 9,312 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,549,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $324.50 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $338.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $301.53. The company has a market capitalization of $310.55 billion, a PE ratio of 53.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 26.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Northland Securities reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 target price (up previously from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, COO Brian Millham sold 14,808 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,344,899.96. This represents a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock worth $384,366,700. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.