WP Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

WP Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 11.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,656 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 829 shares during the period. WP Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,822,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Umpqua Bank raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 7,708 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,110,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Nvwm LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 2,565 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $667,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Prentice Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,506 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $686,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Private Wealth Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 357 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 9,269 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,537,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CRM. Piper Sandler cut Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America raised their target price on Salesforce from $325.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $270.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $322.51.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total transaction of $608,108.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $202,702.68. This represents a 75.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 144,373 shares of company stock valued at $41,250,680. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $325.26 on Monday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $348.86. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $286.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $266.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $310.95 billion, a PE ratio of 56.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.29.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s 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.