Navalign LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Navalign LLC lessened its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,895 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 201 shares during the period. Salesforce comprises 0.7% of Navalign LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Navalign LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,077,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 463.1% during the second quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,283 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $694,000 after buying an additional 2,700 shares during the last quarter. Pointe Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 370.0% in the second quarter. Pointe Capital Management LLC now owns 1,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $328,000 after acquiring an additional 1,221 shares in the last quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 2.9% in the third quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,633 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $534,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 72.3% during the third quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 29,481 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,978,000 after purchasing an additional 12,371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at $341,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total transaction of $60,201.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $799,618.99. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total value of $60,201.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $799,618.99. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.58, for a total value of $2,585,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 59,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,478,857.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 913,507 shares of company stock worth $259,814,813. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CRM. Wedbush upped their target price on Salesforce from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $285.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $304.32.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE CRM traded down $0.20 on Thursday, hitting $301.18. The company had a trading volume of 4,876,082 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,764,980. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $294.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $252.10. The company has a market capitalization of $292.14 billion, a PE ratio of 71.75, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.28. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $187.31 and a 12-month high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.01 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.52%.

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.