Ballentine Partners LLC Has $3.90 Million Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Ballentine Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,162 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 1,178 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,898,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its stake in Salesforce by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 5,659 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,489,000 after acquiring an additional 366 shares during the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 44.7% in the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,605 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $422,000 after buying an additional 496 shares during the period. 9258 Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 24.0% during the 4th quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,483 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,706,000 after acquiring an additional 1,253 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 3,960 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,064,000 after acquiring an additional 970 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $280,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE CRM traded down $2.15 during trading on Friday, reaching $243.97. The company had a trading volume of 6,259,431 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,604,331. The stock has a market cap of $236.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.88, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $254.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $269.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $193.68 and a 12 month high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 28.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total value of $229,434.66. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,072,660.02. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total value of $229,434.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,072,660.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.97, for a total transaction of $1,104,474.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,920,275.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 83,692 shares of company stock valued at $21,006,957. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Salesforce from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. FBN Securities raised shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $234.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and three have issued 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 target price of $304.41.

About Salesforce

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.