Prana Capital Management LP Lowers Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Prana Capital Management LP decreased its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 58.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,067 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 4,288 shares during the period. Prana Capital Management LP’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $839,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Salesforce by 4.1% in the second quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,846 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $475,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 4.2% in the second quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 28,588 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $7,350,000 after buying an additional 1,141 shares in the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 14.0% during the second quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 4,260 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,095,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 3.8% during the second quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 142,876 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $36,721,000 after purchasing an additional 5,237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 10.8% during the second quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 106,657 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $27,422,000 after purchasing an additional 10,365 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Salesforce from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Salesforce from $290.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Truist Financial upped their price target on Salesforce from $315.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $345.31.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.2 %

Salesforce stock opened at $331.77 on Wednesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $348.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $304.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $271.14. The company has a market capitalization of $317.17 billion, a PE ratio of 57.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend yield of 0.48%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Miguel Milano sold 719 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.81, for a total value of $246,480.39. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 4,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,597,151.79. This trade represents a 13.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total transaction of $608,108.04. Following the sale, the insider now directly 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. Insiders sold a total of 140,982 shares of company stock worth $41,591,457 over the last 90 days. Corporate 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.