Flossbach Von Storch SE Sells 163,243 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Flossbach Von Storch SE lowered its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 19.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 692,443 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 163,243 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises 0.9% of Flossbach Von Storch SE’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Flossbach Von Storch SE owned approximately 0.07% of Salesforce worth $231,504,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Calton & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter valued at $204,000. Pictet North America Advisors SA acquired a new position in Salesforce during the third quarter worth $2,668,000. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 18.9% during the third quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,303 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $357,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 24.8% during the third quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC now owns 44,537 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $12,190,000 after acquiring an additional 8,858 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Segment Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 6.7% during the third quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,538 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,611,000 after acquiring an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 target price (up from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $376.84.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $324.19 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $310.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $335.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $304.66. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00. 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 (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total transaction of $109,965,671.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. This represents a 2.54 % 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, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.18, for a total transaction of $2,041,607.78. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,750 shares in the company, valued at $15,342,415. The trade was a 11.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,117,641 shares of company stock valued at $386,408,308. 3.20% 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.