Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Stock Position Lowered by Geneos Wealth Management Inc.

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 8.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 11,380 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 994 shares during the quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,427,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 35,220 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $9,268,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. grew its position in Salesforce by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 7,881 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,206,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,951,415 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,566,055,000 after buying an additional 18,397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 789,525 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $207,756,000 after buying an additional 194,224 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CRM. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $365.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $231.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $292.79.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.74, for a total value of $4,436,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,928,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,823,539,948.54. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.74, for a total transaction of $4,436,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,928,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,823,539,948.54. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.75, for a total transaction of $1,061,550.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 116,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,494,155.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 454,152 shares of company stock worth $122,552,011. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM traded down $1.47 during trading on Thursday, reaching $251.12. 5,333,262 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,942,638. The firm has a market capitalization of $243.34 billion, a PE ratio of 45.44, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $193.68 and a 52 week high of $318.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company’s 50 day moving average is $257.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $276.07.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $9.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.15 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 15.30%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.15 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 9th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.78%.

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.