Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Cuts Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc trimmed its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 19.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 945,354 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 232,641 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned 0.10% of Salesforce worth $243,051,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Fox Hill Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 4.0% in the first quarter. Fox Hill Wealth Management now owns 985 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 4,946 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,490,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Glassman Wealth Services boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Glassman Wealth Services now owns 1,369 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $360,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC now owns 2,207 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $665,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 0.8% in the second quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,876 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,254,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho dropped their target price on Salesforce from $345.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $342.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $306.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total transaction of $105,637.14. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,431 shares in the company, valued at $1,644,921.18. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 942 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.32, for a total value of $228,265.44. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 22,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,368,357.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total transaction of $105,637.14. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,644,921.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,576 shares of company stock worth $16,957,573 over the last three months. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE CRM opened at $266.57 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $254.14 and its 200-day moving average is $266.67. The firm has a market cap of $258.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $193.68 and a one year high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.78%.

Salesforce 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.