Beck Bode LLC Sells 309 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Beck Bode LLC decreased its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,405 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 309 shares during the quarter. Beck Bode LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,949,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CRM. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 1,254.7% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,483,670 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $916,693,000 after purchasing an additional 3,226,512 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 23,653.7% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,406,220 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $370,033,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400,300 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 47.5% during the third quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 2,499,630 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $506,875,000 after purchasing an additional 804,634 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 330.0% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 935,885 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $189,779,000 after acquiring an additional 718,245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter worth about $114,521,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of CRM stock traded down $6.80 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $268.94. 5,211,266 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,632,453. The firm has a market cap of $260.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.28. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.76 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $295.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $265.65.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.94, for a total value of $4,064,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,827,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,475,435,977.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.94, for a total transaction of $4,064,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,827,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,475,435,977.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total value of $662,388.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,856 shares in the company, valued at $1,599,566.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 625,793 shares of company stock worth $183,318,868 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Argus increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 target price (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.