Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Sells 187 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. cut its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 12.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 187 shares during the quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $331,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. raised its stake in Salesforce by 333.3% during the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 892.9% during the fourth quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc purchased a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 5,864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total value of $1,611,251.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,231 shares in the company, valued at $12,428,121.87. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Salesforce news, insider R David Schmaier sold 3,910 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total transaction of $1,074,350.70. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,463 shares in the company, valued at $5,347,848.51. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 5,864 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total value of $1,611,251.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 45,231 shares in the company, valued at $12,428,121.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 907,149 shares of company stock worth $262,952,448. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. Wedbush boosted their price target on Salesforce from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 price target (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Nine equities 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $307.87.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $276.33 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $268.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.28. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $298.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $260.89. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.57 and a twelve month high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.