TCW Group Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

TCW Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 7.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 750,989 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 60,498 shares during the quarter. Salesforce accounts for 2.2% of TCW Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $197,653,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,921,042 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,926,323,000 after acquiring an additional 752,566 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Salesforce by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,195,108 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,270,144,000 after buying an additional 121,436 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $2,762,331,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,397,516 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,420,302,000 after purchasing an additional 145,625 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,678,330 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $948,676,000 after purchasing an additional 309,881 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM stock traded down $5.25 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $278.57. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,024,282 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,308,567. The firm has a market capitalization of $269.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $193.68 and a 12 month high of $318.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a 50 day moving average of $287.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $273.68.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CRM. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Argus boosted their target price on Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. KeyCorp began coverage on Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.94.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, COO Brian Millham sold 24,453 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.08, for a total transaction of $7,386,762.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, COO Brian Millham sold 24,453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.08, for a total transaction of $7,386,762.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total value of $2,188,439.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,903,561.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 630,182 shares of company stock valued at $183,257,351 in the last ninety days. 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.