Sienna Gestion Reduces Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Sienna Gestion trimmed its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 0.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,443 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 50 shares during the period. Sienna Gestion’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $10,393,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,635,254 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $25,490,446,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008,841 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,561,325 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,147,402,000 after purchasing an additional 457,463 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,905,462 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,922,223,000 after purchasing an additional 736,986 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 26.9% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,329,925,000 after buying an additional 3,044,611 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Salesforce by 3.0% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,116,449 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,251,592,000 after buying an additional 407,834 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 2,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.22, for a total value of $675,416.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,362,888.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.22, for a total value of $675,416.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,362,888.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 4,056 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.50, for a total value of $1,060,644.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 66,576 shares of company stock valued at $16,957,573. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Loop Capital raised their price target on Salesforce from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $285.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $305.55.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.1 %

CRM stock opened at $252.42 on Thursday. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $193.68 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71. The company has a market capitalization of $244.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.29. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $253.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $267.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.78%.

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.