Cozad Asset Management Inc. Lowers Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Cozad Asset Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 14,048 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 395 shares during the quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,697,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Graypoint LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 10,504 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,764,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Chase Investment Counsel Corp increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 10,377 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,730,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Opes Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $341,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,294 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Salesforce by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,045 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 2.0 %

NYSE CRM traded down $5.42 on Tuesday, reaching $270.32. 1,948,792 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,591,513. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $295.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $265.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $262.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.76 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 9.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.54, for a total transaction of $4,733,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,311,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,200,205,319.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.54, for a total transaction of $4,733,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,311,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,200,205,319.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.20, for a total value of $2,852,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,230,643.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 610,793 shares of company stock valued at $179,197,018. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Salesforce from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, April 15th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.61.

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.