Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Lowers Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System cut its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,400 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 3,200 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $17,185,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nvest Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Nvest Financial LLC now owns 2,806 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $938,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. OMC Financial Services LTD boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. OMC Financial Services LTD now owns 11,390 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,808,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Sachetta LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 11,018 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,684,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Aviance Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 0.5% in the third quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,860,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EWA LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.7% in the third quarter. EWA LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $548,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $4,217,696,838.46. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 14,808 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was 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 90 days, insiders have sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock worth $384,366,700. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.8 %

Salesforce stock opened at $324.50 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $338.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $301.53. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $310.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.37, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm 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 payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Macquarie reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays raised 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. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.63.

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.