Vontobel Holding Ltd. Lowers Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. reduced its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 244,813 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 8,614 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $81,848,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. RBA Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. RBA Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,172 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,426,000 after purchasing an additional 574 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 233,743 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $63,978,000 after purchasing an additional 17,350 shares during the period. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.3% during the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 3,235 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $885,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. AAFMAA Wealth Management & Trust LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 2.3% during the third quarter. AAFMAA Wealth Management & Trust LLC now owns 8,119 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,222,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the period. Finally, Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 9.5% in the third quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,927 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $527,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of CRM opened at $330.19 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $337.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $302.13. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market cap of $315.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during 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%. Salesforce’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.62 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CRM shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Erste Group Bank raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.63.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,344,899.96. This represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total transaction of $249,995,253.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,192,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,104,786,234.99. This trade represents a 18.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock valued at $384,366,700. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.