Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA Sells 440 Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA lessened its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 16.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,315 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 440 shares during the period. Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $621,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,599,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 926.4% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,256,211 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,422,979,000 after acquiring an additional 3,841,521 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 30,456.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,801,588 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,020,194,000 after acquiring an additional 3,789,147 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,173,564,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of 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. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on CRM. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $404.00 target price (up previously from $393.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $349.08.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $271.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. Salesforce Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $230.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The stock has a market cap of $259.63 billion, a PE ratio of 42.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.36. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $272.21 and a 200-day moving average of $292.32.

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

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be given a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.98%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 1,142 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total transaction of $299,603.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 136,824 shares in the company, valued at $35,895,776.40. The trade was a 0.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 6,959 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total transaction of $1,762,784.29. Following the sale, the insider owned 36,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,141,957.90. This trade represents a 16.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,534 shares of company stock valued at $7,609,842 in the last ninety days. 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.