Wedmont Private Capital Decreases Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Wedmont Private Capital lowered its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,656 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 316 shares during the quarter. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $5,294,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Aviance Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.5% during the third quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,860,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. EWA LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 1.7% during the third quarter. EWA LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $548,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Umpqua Bank grew its stake in Salesforce by 0.4% in the third quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 7,708 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,110,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% in the third quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 3,297 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $891,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nvwm LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 1.4% during the third quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 2,565 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $667,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.87, for a total transaction of $1,217,454.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 118,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,353,653.18. This trade represents a 3.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 1,785 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.00, for a total transaction of $614,040.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,575,904. The trade was a 8.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,181,817 shares of company stock valued at $404,760,429 in the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Salesforce from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $376.05.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of CRM stock traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $318.08. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,991,374 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,505,979. The company has a market cap of $304.40 billion, a PE ratio of 52.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $335.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $289.73. 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). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

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.