Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Reduces Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC cut its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 0.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 182,081 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 478 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $49,837,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management lifted its position in Salesforce by 66.3% in the fourth quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management now owns 1,567 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $412,000 after buying an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 7,160 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,983,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. XN LP increased its holdings in Salesforce by 24.2% in the 2nd quarter. XN LP now owns 464,489 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $119,420,000 after purchasing an additional 90,616 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Salesforce by 27.5% in the third quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,999 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,284,000 after purchasing an additional 2,589 shares during the period. Finally, M&G Plc acquired a new position in Salesforce during the first quarter worth $2,178,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.42, for a total value of $1,211,364.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 118,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,181,807.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total value of $105,637.14. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,431 shares in the company, valued at $1,644,921.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.42, for a total transaction of $1,211,364.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 118,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,181,807.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 80,612 shares of company stock valued at $21,283,087. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE:CRM traded down $2.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $288.10. The company had a trading volume of 3,597,035 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,491,262. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $261.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $264.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $275.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.10, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $193.68 and a 1 year high of $318.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on CRM shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.74.

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.