State of Michigan Retirement System Sells 4,500 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

State of Michigan Retirement System reduced its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 259,443 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 4,500 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $86,740,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 85.1% during the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Collier Financial purchased a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM opened at $292.60 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $280.02 billion, a PE ratio of 48.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $328.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $308.16. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.62 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 25.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on CRM. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $345.00 to $310.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $430.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Salesforce from $415.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirty-two have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $365.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, Director Robin L. Washington bought 1,695 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $294.61 per share, with a total value of $499,363.95. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 43,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,799,331.45. This represents a 4.06 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition 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 business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at $2,344,899.96. The trade was a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock worth $381,283,706 over the last three months. Company 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.