Riverbridge Partners LLC Cuts Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Riverbridge Partners LLC lessened its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 302,356 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 10,875 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises approximately 1.4% of Riverbridge Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Riverbridge Partners LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $101,087,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 300.0% in the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in 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 purchased a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CRM. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $415.00 target price (up previously from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. KeyCorp upgraded Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.63.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total value of $249,995,253.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,192,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,104,786,234.99. The trade was a 18.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.23, for a total value of $145,115.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,888,236.38. This trade represents a 7.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,171,198 shares of company stock worth $401,945,558 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $332.67 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $336.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $292.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $318.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.72, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.32%.

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.