Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc. Has $5.50 Million Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc. lowered its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 16,462 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 155 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises about 3.6% of Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $5,504,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. grew its position in Salesforce by 300.0% during the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 135.6% in the third quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $55,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.00, for a total transaction of $2,133,803.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,474,323. This trade represents a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.23, for a total transaction of $145,115.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,888,236.38. This trade represents a 7.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,109,169 shares of company stock valued at $383,432,020 in the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Salesforce Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of Salesforce stock traded down $7.71 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $352.24. 940,597 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,960,337. The stock has a market cap of $337.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50 day moving average of $337.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $296.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced 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 firm 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 business’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Cfra set a $343.00 target price on Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.