Keel Point LLC Lowers Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Keel Point LLC trimmed its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 15.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,505 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 838 shares during the period. Keel Point LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,185,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 4,468 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $949,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Roundview Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 18.8% during the 1st quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 24,037 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,104,000 after purchasing an additional 3,809 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 42.8% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 621 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $132,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 1st quarter worth $455,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 21.3% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 860,950 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $182,797,000 after purchasing an additional 151,440 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. TheStreet raised shares of Salesforce from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. StockNews.com cut Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Salesforce from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $306.26.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total transaction of $60,201.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $799,618.99. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total transaction of $60,201.36. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $799,618.99. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 293,965 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $82,310,200.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 907,375 shares of company stock valued at $262,519,346 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 7.0 %

Salesforce stock traded down $20.70 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $273.62. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 13,903,149 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,626,301. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $298.82 and its 200 day moving average is $259.77. The company has a market cap of $265.41 billion, a PE ratio of 65.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.57 and a 52-week high of $318.71.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.52%.

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.