JT Stratford LLC Lowers Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

JT Stratford LLC lessened its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 11.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,515 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 326 shares during the period. JT Stratford LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $841,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $3,599,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 926.4% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,256,211 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,422,979,000 after acquiring an additional 3,841,521 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,173,564,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Salesforce by 42.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,791,015 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,604,770,000 after purchasing an additional 2,325,156 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,752,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,736,667 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.3%

CRM stock opened at $283.08 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $272.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $268.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $306.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This is a positive change from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 26.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $405.00 to $393.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $210.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Salesforce from $310.00 to $255.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Westpark Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $352.36.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Miguel Milano sold 458 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total transaction of $141,050.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,864 shares in the company, valued at $1,805,936.08. This represents a 7.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total transaction of $1,975,615.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 41,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,219,490. This trade represents a 13.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 46,306 shares of company stock valued at $12,841,368. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.