Lewis Asset Management LLC Sells 443 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Lewis Asset Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,200 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 443 shares during the quarter. Salesforce accounts for about 1.6% of Lewis Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Lewis Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,073,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 15.0% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter worth $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 worth $15,885,000 after buying an additional 6,938 shares in the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 16.1% in the third quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,629,000 after buying an additional 1,834 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AIA Group Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 8.9% in the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $6,577,000 after buying an additional 1,962 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Northland Capmk raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. KeyCorp raised shares of Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. TD Cowen raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Loop Capital upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.23, for a total value of $145,115.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,888,236.38. This represents a 7.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total transaction of $1,178,057.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 119,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,431,349.48. This trade represents a 3.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,109,169 shares of company stock valued at $383,432,020. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $354.14 on Thursday. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $337.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $296.02. The stock has a market cap of $338.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.25, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.30.

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 business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

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.