Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC Sells 213 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC cut its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,684 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 213 shares during the quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,197,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 4.8% during the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 909,821 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $233,915,000 after buying an additional 41,630 shares in the last quarter. Fortune Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Fortune Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,349 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $347,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Campbell Wealth Management increased its stake in Salesforce by 29.8% in the second quarter. Campbell Wealth Management now owns 871 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden raised its position in Salesforce by 3.9% in the second quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 250,647 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $64,441,000 after purchasing an additional 9,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Achmea Investment Management B.V. lifted its stake in Salesforce by 2.2% during the second quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 87,120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $22,399,000 after purchasing an additional 1,863 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on CRM shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Northland Securities restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $440.00 price target (up from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Macquarie reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $376.05.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.5 %

CRM opened at $326.67 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $335.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $288.53. The firm has a market cap of $312.62 billion, a PE ratio of 53.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued 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 business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.00, for a total value of $2,133,803.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,474,323. The trade was a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 1,785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.00, for a total transaction of $614,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,181,817 shares of company stock valued at $404,760,429. 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.