Welch Group LLC Sells 37 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Welch Group LLC reduced its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,559 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 37 shares during the quarter. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $523,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 5,328 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,781,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV acquired a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $702,000. Rockline Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Rockline Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,212 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,083,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. grew its holdings in Salesforce by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 18,586 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $6,214,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. Finally, RBA Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. RBA Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,457 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,502,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,217,696,838.46. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.00, for a total transaction of $2,133,803.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,861 shares in the company, valued at $18,474,323. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,104,699 shares of company stock valued at $382,108,847 over the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. DA Davidson raised their target price on Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.63.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $339.28 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $324.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.80, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.31. 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. The business has a 50 day moving average of $338.67 and a 200 day moving average of $297.99.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued 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). The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. 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.