Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC Trims Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC decreased its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 27.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 14,506 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 5,428 shares during the quarter. Salesforce makes up 1.7% of Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $4,850,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CRM. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,583,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 27,374 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $9,152,000 after purchasing an additional 649 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its position in Salesforce by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 47,042 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $15,728,000 after purchasing an additional 3,230 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 134,117 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $44,839,000 after purchasing an additional 2,892 shares during the period. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 30,365 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $10,152,000 after buying an additional 4,564 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 14,808 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.95, for a total value of $5,019,171.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock worth $384,366,700. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. Guggenheim downgraded Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.63.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $325.81 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $338.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $300.36. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The company has a market capitalization of $311.80 billion, a PE ratio of 53.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

Salesforce Company 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.