Wellington Management Group LLP Decreases Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Wellington Management Group LLP decreased its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,707,240 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 229,542 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,383,259,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of CRM. Veritas Asset Management LLP bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter worth about $733,805,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 48.3% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,518,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922,674 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 171.2% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $447,470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032,068 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 23,664.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,002,848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $274,490,000 after purchasing an additional 998,628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 51.0% during the second quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,946,838 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $757,632,000 after purchasing an additional 994,670 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 719 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.81, for a total value of $246,480.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,597,151.79. The trade was a 13.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 140,982 shares of company stock valued at $41,591,457 in the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $361.14 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 company has a market capitalization of $345.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.40, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $308.26 and its 200 day moving average is $272.43. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.31% and a net margin of 15.96%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. On average, 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 will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the topic of several research reports. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $372.86.

Salesforce 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.