Starboard Value LP Sells 240,022 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Starboard Value LP lowered its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,441,848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 240,022 shares during the quarter. Salesforce accounts for about 8.4% of Starboard Value LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Starboard Value LP’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $394,648,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth about $766,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at $53,000. B&L Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter valued at $648,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter valued at $82,000. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in Salesforce during the third quarter valued at about $51,601,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total value of $608,108.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 828 shares in the company, valued at $202,702.68. This represents a 75.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 144,510 shares of company stock worth $42,475,538. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Citigroup upped their price target on Salesforce from $290.00 to $368.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Phillip Securities restated an “accumulate” rating and issued a $305.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, August 30th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $385.00 price target (up previously from $330.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $341.89.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $329.99 on Monday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $348.86. The company has a 50 day moving average of $302.12 and a 200-day moving average of $270.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $315.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.39, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.29.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 27.83%.

Salesforce Company 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.