Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Sells 336 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 47,427 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 336 shares during the quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $12,981,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 66.3% during the 4th quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management now owns 1,567 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $412,000 after buying an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 7,160 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,983,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. XN LP raised its position in Salesforce by 24.2% in the second quarter. XN LP now owns 464,489 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $119,420,000 after purchasing an additional 90,616 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new position in Salesforce in the first quarter valued at about $2,178,000. Finally, First Foundation Advisors raised its position in Salesforce by 38.0% in the first quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 828 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.1 %

CRM stock opened at $284.48 on Tuesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $193.68 and a twelve month high of $318.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $258.53 and its 200-day moving average is $264.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $275.66 billion, a PE ratio of 51.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total transaction of $229,434.66. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,072,660.02. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total transaction of $229,434.66. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,072,660.02. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 8,427 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $2,359,560.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 76,412 shares of company stock worth $20,071,723. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $325.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, September 6th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Salesforce from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Salesforce from $295.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.74.

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.