Burney Co. Trims Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Burney Co. lowered its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,400 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 107 shares during the quarter. Burney Co.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,808,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 300.0% during the third quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 135.6% in the 3rd quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth approximately $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on CRM shares. Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Northland Securities reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $376.05.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM opened at $321.01 on Thursday. 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 $307.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.80, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a fifty day moving average of $336.76 and a 200 day moving average of $290.66. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.62 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 1,785 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.00, for a total value of $614,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 19,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,575,904. This trade represents a 8.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,177,617 shares of company stock valued at $403,542,975 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is 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.