Sapient Capital LLC Sells 172 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Sapient Capital LLC lessened its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 3.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,009 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 172 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,344,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,955,353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $6,656,078,000 after purchasing an additional 175,035 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,453,872 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,163,703,000 after purchasing an additional 177,321 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Salesforce by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,752,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,736,667 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $3,599,867,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 23.2% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,938,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,988,422,000 after acquiring an additional 1,683,233 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $137,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,711 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,220,525. The trade was a 4.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Millham sold 3,937 shares of the business’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 $1,120,391.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 5,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,570,312.44. This represents a 41.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 40,332 shares of company stock valued at $11,024,802. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of CRM stock opened at $266.56 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $267.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $300.72. The company has a market cap of $254.83 billion, a PE ratio of 43.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current 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.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.44 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CRM shares. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $346.34.

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.