Louisbourg Investments Inc. Reduces Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Louisbourg Investments Inc. reduced its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 22.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 23,187 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 6,810 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises approximately 1.9% of Louisbourg Investments Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Louisbourg Investments Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $7,752,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nvest Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Nvest Financial LLC now owns 2,806 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $938,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. OMC Financial Services LTD lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. OMC Financial Services LTD now owns 11,390 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Sachetta LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 11,018 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,684,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 0.5% during the third quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,860,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, EWA LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 1.7% during the third quarter. EWA LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $548,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM opened at $324.50 on Wednesday. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $338.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $301.96. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $310.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31.

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). The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.62 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Erste Group Bank raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, KeyCorp raised Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One equities research 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,217,696,838.46. This trade represents a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.94, for a total transaction of $2,089,882.74. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,705,195. This represents a 11.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock valued at $384,366,700. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.