Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG Sells 750 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG reduced its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 196,725 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 750 shares during the period. Salesforce accounts for about 1.4% of Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $65,771,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. RBA Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 3.7% during the third quarter. RBA Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,172 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,426,000 after acquiring an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 8.0% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 233,743 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $63,978,000 after buying an additional 17,350 shares during the period. SPC Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 3.7% during the third quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 1,995 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $546,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Bfsg LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 4.7% during the third quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 4,054 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,110,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. Finally, Good Life Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 35.5% during the third quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 2,216 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $607,000 after buying an additional 581 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total value of $109,965,671.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.00, for a total value of $2,133,803.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,474,323. The trade was a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,111,420 shares of company stock valued at $384,366,700 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $325.49 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $337.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $302.33. The company has a market cap of $311.49 billion, a PE ratio of 53.53, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.63.

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.