Parisi Gray Wealth Management Trims Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Parisi Gray Wealth Management cut its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,051 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 37 shares during the period. Parisi Gray Wealth Management’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $277,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Union Savings Bank acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. increased its stake in Salesforce by 333.3% during the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM traded up $1.28 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $302.66. The company had a trading volume of 597,098 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,692,840. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $293.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $251.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market capitalization of $293.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.46, 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The business’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. Research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.54, for a total transaction of $4,733,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,311,166 shares in the company, valued at $4,200,205,319.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total value of $60,201.36. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $799,618.99. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.54, for a total transaction of $4,733,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,311,166 shares in the company, valued at $4,200,205,319.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 898,507 shares of company stock worth $255,293,063. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on CRM. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Salesforce from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $290.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Mizuho reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price objective (up from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $304.32.

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.