Lazard Asset Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Lazard Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 640,162 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 28,694 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned about 0.07% of Salesforce worth $214,025,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,955,353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,656,078,000 after purchasing an additional 175,035 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,453,872 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,163,703,000 after buying an additional 177,321 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 18.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,752,830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,736,667 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,599,867,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Salesforce by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,938,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,988,422,000 after purchasing an additional 1,683,233 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $275.38 on Monday. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market cap of $264.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.29, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.42. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $267.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $307.36.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. This is a positive change from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Miguel Milano sold 458 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total value of $141,050.26. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,805,936.08. The trade was a 7.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $137,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,711 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,220,525. This trade represents a 4.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,830 shares of company stock valued at $12,907,361 over the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on CRM shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $315.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim upgraded Salesforce from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirty-two have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $350.56.

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.