Cypress Capital Group Reduces Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Cypress Capital Group trimmed its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 26.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,016 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 1,807 shares during the period. Cypress Capital Group’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,677,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $13,432,855,000 after purchasing an additional 864,193 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,395,132,000 after acquiring an additional 257,501 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,453,872 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,163,703,000 after acquiring an additional 177,321 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Salesforce by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,066,354 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,028,164,000 after acquiring an additional 153,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Salesforce by 1.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,632,599,000 after acquiring an additional 57,825 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total value of $109,965,671.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. This trade represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total value of $249,995,253.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,192,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,104,786,234.99. This represents a 18.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,108,793 shares of company stock worth $383,156,227 in the last three months. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 2.0 %

NYSE CRM opened at $287.10 on Wednesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $274.76 billion, a PE ratio of 47.22, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $326.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $308.33.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced 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 company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.62 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 25.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Macquarie decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $370.00 to $320.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $365.32.

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.