Oak Associates Ltd. OH Sells 765 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Oak Associates Ltd. OH reduced its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,445 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 765 shares during the quarter. Oak Associates Ltd. OH’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $4,485,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its stake in Salesforce by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 5,659 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,489,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 44.7% during the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,605 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $422,000 after buying an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 24.0% in the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,483 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,706,000 after buying an additional 1,253 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 32.4% in the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 3,960 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,064,000 after acquiring an additional 970 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Heartland Consultants Inc. raised its stake in Salesforce by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. First Heartland Consultants Inc. now owns 1,547 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $407,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $345.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $304.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 942 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.32, for a total value of $228,265.44. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 22,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,368,357.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 5,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.17, for a total value of $1,400,952.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 116,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,193,087.81. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 942 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.32, for a total transaction of $228,265.44. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 22,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,368,357.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 62,376 shares of company stock valued at $15,878,005. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $254.57 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $246.68 billion, a PE ratio of 45.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $253.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $268.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $193.68 and a 12-month high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 28.78%.

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.