Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Sells 287 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,525 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 287 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,170,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Salesforce by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,635,254 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $25,490,446,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008,841 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,561,325 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,147,402,000 after purchasing an additional 457,463 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,921,042 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,926,323,000 after purchasing an additional 752,566 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 76.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,708,615 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,607,493,000 after purchasing an additional 5,935,973 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,762,331,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 942 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.32, for a total transaction of $228,265.44. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 22,154 shares in the company, valued at $5,368,357.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 942 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.32, for a total transaction of $228,265.44. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 22,154 shares in the company, valued at $5,368,357.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 1,678 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.32, for a total value of $406,612.96. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 1,662 shares in the company, valued at $402,735.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 352,975 shares of company stock worth $94,340,764. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $250.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $365.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $310.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective (down from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, May 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $292.79.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE CRM traded up $1.98 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $256.06. 3,892,686 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,830,817. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market cap of $248.12 billion, a PE ratio of 46.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $193.68 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $253.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $275.65.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 9th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.78%.

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.