FourThought Financial Partners LLC Sells 9,733 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

FourThought Financial Partners LLC reduced its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 36.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 9,733 shares during the quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $5,696,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,473 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $12,194,000 after purchasing an additional 4,752 shares during the period. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the third quarter worth about $1,215,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 13.6% in the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $15,885,000 after acquiring an additional 6,938 shares in the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 16.1% in the third quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AIA Group Ltd raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 8.9% in the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $6,577,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target 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 price objective on Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price objective on Salesforce from $360.00 to $330.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-two have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $375.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,344,899.96. This trade represents a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,217,696,838.46. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock valued at $381,283,706 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE CRM opened at $308.27 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $295.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $332.36 and its 200-day moving average is $306.60. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.62 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

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.