Citizens Business Bank Decreases Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Citizens Business Bank reduced its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,472 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 179 shares during the quarter. Citizens Business Bank’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,866,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aviance Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.5% during the third quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,860,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. EWA LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. EWA LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $548,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Umpqua Bank raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% in the third quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 3,297 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $891,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nvwm LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% during the third quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 2,565 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $667,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This trade represents a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $255,905.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 52,930 shares in the company, valued at $15,100,399.70. This trade represents a 1.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 138,498 shares of company stock worth $40,983,349. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CRM. Cfra set a $343.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Salesforce from $234.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $372.86.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $348.84 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $333.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $311.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $273.32. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The business had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

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.