Hill Island Financial LLC Decreases Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Hill Island Financial LLC reduced its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,548 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 111 shares during the period. Hill Island Financial LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $655,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 66.3% in the 4th quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management now owns 1,567 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $412,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,951,415 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,566,055,000 after acquiring an additional 18,397 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 32.6% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 789,525 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $207,756,000 after acquiring an additional 194,224 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 7,160 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,983,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, M&G Plc purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at $2,178,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Salesforce from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Salesforce from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Salesforce from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, September 6th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $305.55.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 942 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.32, for a total transaction of $228,265.44. Following the sale, the insider now owns 22,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,368,357.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total value of $229,434.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,072,660.02. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 942 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.32, for a total transaction of $228,265.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 22,154 shares in the company, valued at $5,368,357.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 62,376 shares of company stock worth $15,878,005 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.9 %

CRM opened at $256.81 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $253.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $267.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $248.85 billion, a PE ratio of 46.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $193.68 and a 12-month high of $318.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. Salesforce’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.78%.

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.