Gilbert & Cook Inc. Decreases Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Gilbert & Cook Inc. lessened its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,731 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 37 shares during the quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,916,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $91,000. OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 80,591 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $26,944,000 after buying an additional 401 shares during the period. First Affirmative Financial Network grew its stake in Salesforce by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 2,933 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $980,000 after buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 1,114 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $373,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $361,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $380.00 to $400.00 in a report on Friday, January 17th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. KeyCorp raised shares of Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.63.

Salesforce Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $343.26 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $337.96 and its 200 day moving average is $296.02. The company has a market cap of $328.50 billion, a PE ratio of 56.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.30. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.23, for a total value of $145,115.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,888,236.38. This represents a 7.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.00, for a total value of $2,133,803.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,474,323. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,109,169 shares of company stock worth $383,432,020 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.