Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA Reduces Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA trimmed its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.9% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 209,619 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 4,121 shares during the period. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $56,253,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $236,000. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $8,582,000 after buying an additional 3,102 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $104,173,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $611,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. Finally, Essex Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,358 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,123,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on CRM. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Northland Securities decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $423.00 to $396.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $430.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of Salesforce from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $420.00 to $275.00 in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $346.34.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $265.93 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $227.77 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $267.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $301.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $254.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.44 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be given a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, insider R David Schmaier sold 6,959 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total value of $1,762,784.29. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,141,957.90. This trade represents a 16.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,273 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total value of $931,430.34. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 125,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,614,048.68. This represents a 2.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 40,332 shares of company stock valued at $11,024,802 over the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.