Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA Cuts Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA reduced its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,755 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 50 shares during the period. Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $921,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $73,000. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in Salesforce by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 479,272 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $160,235,000 after buying an additional 7,587 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,453,872 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,163,703,000 after buying an additional 177,321 shares in the last quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 449 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $150,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,439,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total transaction of $109,965,671.90. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 458 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total value of $141,050.26. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,864 shares in the company, valued at $1,805,936.08. The trade was a 7.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock worth $381,283,706. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CRM shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirty-two have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $365.32.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $297.63 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $284.83 billion, a PE ratio of 48.95, 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 quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $329.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $307.21. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.62 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.16%.

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.