Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Free Report) by 27.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,345,517 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 869,615 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $621,351,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Salesforce by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,843,166 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $23,800,353,000 after buying an additional 270,913 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,420,657 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $11,732,966,000 after acquiring an additional 159,739 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Salesforce by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 22,721,010 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $6,019,199,000 after acquiring an additional 2,669,891 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,782,556 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,751,073,000 after acquiring an additional 791,345 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,672,684 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,211,515,000 after purchasing an additional 2,347,478 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Salesforce Trading Down 1.6%
CRM stock opened at $182.72 on Tuesday. Salesforce Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $163.52 and a fifty-two week high of $276.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $181.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $208.35. The firm has a market cap of $149.64 billion, a PE ratio of 21.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.16.
Salesforce Dividend Announcement
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.37%.
Salesforce announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, March 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the CRM provider to buy up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, May 28th. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $200.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Salesforce from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Salesforce from $300.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $260.85.
Get Our Latest Research Report on CRM
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, Director Laura Alber purchased 2,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $194.58 per share, for a total transaction of $500,265.18. Following the acquisition, the director owned 9,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,854,347.40. This trade represents a 36.94% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director David Blair Kirk bought 2,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $194.62 per share, with a total value of $500,173.40. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 13,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,664,153.18. This trade represents a 23.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
About Salesforce
Salesforce, founded in 1999 and headquartered in San Francisco, is a global provider of cloud-based software focused on customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise applications. The company popularized the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model for CRM and has built a broad portfolio of products designed to help organizations manage sales, service, marketing, commerce and analytics through a unified, cloud-first platform.
Core offerings include Sales Cloud for sales automation, Service Cloud for customer support, Marketing Cloud for digital marketing and engagement, and Commerce Cloud for e-commerce.
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