Stevens Capital Management LP Sells 8,530 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Stevens Capital Management LP lowered its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 74.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,956 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 8,530 shares during the period. Stevens Capital Management LP’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $778,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CRM. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 226.5% during the third quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 320 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 25.7% in the third quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 4,411 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $894,000 after buying an additional 901 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3.1% in the third quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,840 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $373,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter worth approximately $237,000. Finally, Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter worth approximately $226,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total value of $662,388.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,599,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 4,096 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total transaction of $1,118,822.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 49,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,463,563.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total transaction of $662,388.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,599,566.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 616,589 shares of company stock valued at $181,071,306 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on CRM shares. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $360.00 target price (up previously from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $342.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, April 15th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.61.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM traded down $3.05 during trading on Thursday, hitting $273.14. 4,807,359 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,686,368. The company has a market cap of $264.95 billion, a PE ratio of 64.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $296.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $263.37. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.57 and a 1 year high of $318.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 9.52%.

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.