Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Cuts Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,433,552 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 30,811 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises approximately 0.5% of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $813,609,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Veritas Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at $733,805,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 52.7% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,433,785 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,482,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,530,572 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 46.7% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,829,773 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,280,408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219,254 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 171.2% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $447,470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032,068 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 23,664.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,002,848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $274,490,000 after purchasing an additional 998,628 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,344,899.96. This trade represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.94, for a total transaction of $2,089,882.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,705,195. The trade was a 11.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock valued at $384,366,700 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 5.0 %

Shares of CRM stock opened at $330.52 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $316.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.36, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.31. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $339.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $299.65. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced 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 company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.62 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on CRM. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.