Flputnam Investment Management Co. Reduces Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. reduced its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 11.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 79,981 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 10,506 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $26,740,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,473 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $12,194,000 after buying an additional 4,752 shares in the last quarter. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,215,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $15,885,000 after purchasing an additional 6,938 shares during the period. Aljian Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834 shares during the period. Finally, AIA Group Ltd boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 8.9% during the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,577,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.9 %

CRM opened at $297.63 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $329.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $307.21. The company has a market capitalization of $284.83 billion, a PE ratio of 48.95, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at $2,344,899.96. The trade was a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total value of $249,995,253.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,192,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,104,786,234.99. This trade represents a 18.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock valued at $381,283,706 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on CRM shares. Guggenheim reissued a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price target (up from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Macquarie dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $370.00 to $320.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $415.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty-two have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $365.32.

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.