Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Sold by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 49.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,634 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 7,443 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,009,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc increased its holdings in Salesforce by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 35,220 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $9,268,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. increased its holdings in Salesforce by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 7,881 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,206,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $214,000. Lone Pine Capital LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 2,499,630 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $506,875,000 after purchasing an additional 804,634 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL increased its holdings in Salesforce by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 821,761 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $166,637,000 after purchasing an additional 6,888 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CRM. KeyCorp assumed coverage on Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $365.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.61.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.20, for a total transaction of $2,852,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 60,416 shares in the company, valued at $17,230,643.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.20, for a total transaction of $2,852,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 60,416 shares in the company, valued at $17,230,643.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.53, for a total transaction of $4,042,950.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,707,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,425,005,846.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 629,993 shares of company stock worth $184,255,474 over the last quarter. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $273.66 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $294.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $266.17. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.76 and a 52 week high of $318.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $264.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.16, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.30. 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 (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.01 earnings per share. Salesforce’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.52%.

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.