CSM Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

CSM Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,157 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 2,308 shares during the quarter. CSM Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $11,751,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invst LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 4.2% in the third quarter. Invst LLC now owns 17,003 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,654,000 after buying an additional 685 shares in the last quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank lifted its position in Salesforce by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 7,332 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,007,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 4,290 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,174,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 7,047 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,930,000 after purchasing an additional 866 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 570.4% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 54,446 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $14,903,000 after purchasing an additional 46,324 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $415.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $310.00 to $255.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. DA Davidson reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday. Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $311.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and five have assigned 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 a consensus target price of $357.49.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 652 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $216,646.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 121,467 shares in the company, valued at $40,361,054.76. The trade was a 0.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 458 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total value of $141,050.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,805,936.08. The trade was a 7.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,654 shares of company stock worth $14,124,094 over the last quarter. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $243.10 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $233.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.98, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The business’s 50 day moving average is $277.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $308.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This is an increase from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.10%.

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.