Petredis Investment Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Petredis Investment Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 0.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 20,029 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 49 shares during the quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $5,482,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Creekmur Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,000. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,311 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $395,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the period. Foster Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the first quarter valued at approximately $296,000. Finally, Montecito Bank & Trust raised its position in Salesforce by 57.5% in the first quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust now owns 2,004 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $604,000 after acquiring an additional 732 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of CRM opened at $288.31 on Wednesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $193.68 and a twelve month high of $318.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $279.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $263.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $263.46.

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 business had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The company’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 28.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.22, for a total value of $675,416.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,362,888.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.22, for a total value of $675,416.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,362,888.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 8,427 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $2,359,560.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 76,412 shares of company stock valued at $20,212,507. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on CRM. Phillip Securities restated an “accumulate” rating and set a $305.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Loop Capital reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Northland Securities upgraded Salesforce from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $270.00 to $400.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.74.

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.