Optas LLC Reduces Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Optas LLC reduced its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.0% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,809 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 79 shares during the period. Salesforce comprises approximately 0.6% of Optas LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Optas LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,352,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CRM. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 59.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC now owns 4,629 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $939,000 after acquiring an additional 1,729 shares during the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 22.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 1,287 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $261,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 165.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,672 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $745,000 after acquiring an additional 2,287 shares during the last quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 52.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 655 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $133,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 41.4% in the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 92,811 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $18,820,000 after acquiring an additional 27,174 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE:CRM traded up $4.25 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $257.10. 12,619,303 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,223,949. The stock has a market capitalization of $249.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.24, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.25. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $193.68 and a 52-week high of $318.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $259.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $276.47.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $9.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.15 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 11.57%. Salesforce’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 9th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 7.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 942 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.32, for a total transaction of $228,265.44. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 22,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,368,357.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.66, for a total value of $3,249,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,407,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,688,171,467.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 942 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.32, for a total transaction of $228,265.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 22,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,368,357.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 547,387 shares of company stock worth $151,174,635. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $250.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $292.79.

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.