Caprock Group LLC Reduces Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Caprock Group LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,142 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 429 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $9,085,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Piscataqua Savings Bank increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2,400.0% in the second quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 100 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 816.7% in the 2nd quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 300.0% during the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 3,125.0% in the second quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 129 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM opened at $322.25 on Tuesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $348.86. The stock has a market cap of $308.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $288.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $266.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 27.83%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $18,156,600.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total value of $608,108.04. Following the sale, the insider now owns 828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,702.68. The trade was a 75.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 140,173 shares of company stock worth $40,146,206. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on CRM. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $285.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $330.00 price objective (up from $300.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup upped their price target on Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $305.00 to $385.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, FBN Securities raised shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $325.36.

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.