Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Sold by Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC decreased its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,493 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 501 shares during the period. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,872,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 34.0% during the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 2,150 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $648,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares during the period. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 59.2% in the 1st quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $379,000 after buying an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 134.0% in the 1st quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 9,663 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,910,000 after acquiring an additional 5,534 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 648,753 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $195,189,000 after acquiring an additional 21,298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Interval Partners LP boosted its position in Salesforce by 157.1% during the 1st quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 36,000 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $10,842,000 after acquiring an additional 22,000 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, COO Brian Millham sold 14,808 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.95, for a total transaction of $5,019,171.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total transaction of $1,178,057.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 119,402 shares in the company, valued at $35,431,349.48. The trade was a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 147,991 shares of company stock worth $43,333,238 over the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, November 18th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $425.00 price objective on the stock. Phillip Securities reaffirmed an “accumulate” rating and issued a $305.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Salesforce from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Northland Securities raised Salesforce from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $270.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $336.37.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $342.02 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $326.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $294.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $268.53. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week high of $348.86.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 27.83%.

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.