AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Sells 201,875 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd trimmed its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 22.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 705,940 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 201,875 shares during the quarter. Salesforce accounts for 1.1% of AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $236,017,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RBA Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 3.7% in the third quarter. RBA Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,172 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,426,000 after buying an additional 574 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 233,743 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $63,978,000 after purchasing an additional 17,350 shares in the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 3,235 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $885,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. AAFMAA Wealth Management & Trust LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. AAFMAA Wealth Management & Trust LLC now owns 8,119 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,222,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,927 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $527,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on CRM shares. Cfra set a $343.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup upped their target price on Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a 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. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.94, for a total transaction of $167,970.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,202,758.58. This represents a 7.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total transaction of $249,995,253.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,192,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,104,786,234.99. The trade was a 18.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock worth $384,366,700. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $330.19 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00. The company has a market cap of $315.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $337.91 and a 200-day moving average of $302.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

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.