Martingale Asset Management L P Lowers Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Martingale Asset Management L P reduced its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 19.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 69,950 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 16,421 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $19,146,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at $859,000. OMC Financial Services LTD bought a new position in Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at $3,415,000. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Old Port Advisors bought a new position in Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at $226,000. Finally, Bright Futures Wealth Management LLC. bought a new position in Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at $579,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $18,156,600.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 144,510 shares of company stock worth $42,475,538. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $330.01 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $300.85 and its 200 day moving average is $270.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $348.86. The stock has a market cap of $315.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.29.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal 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. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CRM. Scotiabank began coverage on Salesforce in a research note on Monday, November 18th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $425.00 price target for the company. Cfra set a $343.00 price target on Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America increased their price target on Salesforce from $325.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. DA Davidson increased their price target on Salesforce from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Salesforce from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $341.89.

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.