Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI Decreases Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI reduced its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 102,855 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 4,329 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $34,388,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,473 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $12,194,000 after buying an additional 4,752 shares during the last quarter. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc acquired a new position in Salesforce during the third quarter worth about $1,215,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 13.6% in the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $15,885,000 after purchasing an additional 6,938 shares in the last quarter. Athena Investment Management acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $236,000. Finally, Aljian Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. The trade was a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 942 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.78, for a total transaction of $320,072.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 120,333 shares in the company, valued at $40,886,746.74. This trade represents a 0.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,102,572 shares of company stock worth $381,283,706 in the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $415.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. TD Cowen upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Macquarie reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $370.00 to $320.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $365.32.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $292.60 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $328.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $308.16. The company has a market capitalization of $280.02 billion, a PE ratio of 48.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve 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.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 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 issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.16%.

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.