Vawter Financial Ltd. Reduces Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Vawter Financial Ltd. trimmed its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 20.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 911 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 232 shares during the period. Vawter Financial Ltd.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $305,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 85.1% in the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Collier Financial purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total value of $249,995,253.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,192,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,104,786,234.99. The trade was a 18.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 719 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.81, for a total transaction of $246,480.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,597,151.79. The trade was a 13.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,111,420 shares of company stock valued at $384,366,700 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp raised shares of Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.63.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $328.62 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market cap of $314.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.05, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a 50-day moving average of $335.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $304.52. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.