Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Lowers Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 18.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 8,053 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 1,797 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,119,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 333.3% in the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CRM. TheStreet raised shares of Salesforce from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Salesforce from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Wedbush upped their target price on Salesforce from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.61.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock traded up $1.53 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $273.66. The stock had a trading volume of 4,041,636 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,219,539. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $294.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $266.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $264.90 billion, a PE ratio of 65.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.76 and a twelve month high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.52%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.20, for a total transaction of $2,852,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 60,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,230,643.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Salesforce news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.20, for a total value of $2,852,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 60,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,230,643.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total value of $2,188,439.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,903,561.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 629,993 shares of company stock worth $184,255,474. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.