AMI Asset Management Corp Decreases Stock Holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

AMI Asset Management Corp decreased its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 16.5% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 192,003 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 38,047 shares during the period. Salesforce accounts for about 3.0% of AMI Asset Management Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. AMI Asset Management Corp’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $51,526,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $320.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $404.00 target price (up from $393.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, May 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $349.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 261 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total transaction of $68,473.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,154,496.40. This represents a 2.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 6,959 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total transaction of $1,762,784.29. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,141,957.90. This represents a 16.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 26,284 shares of company stock worth $6,996,762. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $268.11 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $256.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.38. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $230.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $269.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $295.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.44 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be given a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

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.