Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) is Petrus Trust Company LTA’s 3rd Largest Position

Petrus Trust Company LTA cut its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 226,053 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 9,747 shares during the period. Salesforce comprises about 6.0% of Petrus Trust Company LTA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Petrus Trust Company LTA’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $61,873,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,846 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $475,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 4.2% in the second quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 28,588 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $7,350,000 after acquiring an additional 1,141 shares in the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 14.0% in the second quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 4,260 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,095,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares during the period. Guinness Asset Management LTD grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 3.8% during the second quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 142,876 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $36,721,000 after purchasing an additional 5,237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. raised its stake in Salesforce by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 106,657 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $27,422,000 after purchasing an additional 10,365 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $385.00 price target (up from $330.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Northland Securities restated an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 target price (up previously from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, November 18th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $425.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $361.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.04, for a total value of $1,079,568.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,223,020.24. This trade represents a 3.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total value of $608,108.04. Following the sale, the insider now owns 828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $202,702.68. This trade represents a 75.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 140,982 shares of company stock worth $41,591,457 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $331.77 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $304.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $271.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $348.86. The stock has a market cap of $317.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 27.83%.

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.