Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Sells 1,547 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd cut its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 330,528 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 1,547 shares during the period. Salesforce makes up approximately 1.1% of Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $110,505,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 300.0% during the third quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 135.6% during the third quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $55,000. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its stake in Salesforce by 88.3% in the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 177 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.88, for a total transaction of $2,052,183.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 45,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,128,626.68. The trade was a 11.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. The trade was a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,111,420 shares of company stock worth $384,366,700 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $330.52 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $316.31 billion, a PE ratio of 54.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $339.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $299.65. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.62 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on CRM shares. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Guggenheim cut Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.63.

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.