Clean Yield Group Reduces Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Clean Yield Group reduced its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,201 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 62 shares during the period. Salesforce accounts for approximately 2.5% of Clean Yield Group’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Clean Yield Group’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $7,757,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 38.3% during the 2nd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 206 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 7,718 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,984,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Salesforce by 7.1% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,706,289 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $438,687,000 after buying an additional 112,690 shares in the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 12.0% during the second quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 2,238 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $575,000 after buying an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lyell Wealth Management LP raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 6.8% in the second quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP now owns 64,280 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $16,526,000 after acquiring an additional 4,110 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total value of $249,995,253.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,192,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,104,786,234.99. This represents a 18.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total value of $109,965,671.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,181,817 shares of company stock valued at $404,760,429. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on Salesforce from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted 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, Erste Group Bank upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $376.05.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of CRM traded up $0.49 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $318.34. 2,177,881 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,533,388. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $335.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $289.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $304.65 billion, a PE ratio of 52.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

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.