Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc. Sells 643 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc. cut its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,175 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 643 shares during the period. Salesforce makes up 3.4% of Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $4,519,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 1,254.7% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,483,670 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $916,693,000 after purchasing an additional 3,226,512 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 23,653.7% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,406,220 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $370,033,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400,300 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 47.5% during the third quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 2,499,630 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $506,875,000 after acquiring an additional 804,634 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 330.0% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 935,885 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $189,779,000 after acquiring an additional 718,245 shares during the period. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce during the third quarter valued at about $114,521,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total value of $2,188,439.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 38,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,903,561.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total value of $2,188,439.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,903,561.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 24,453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.08, for a total transaction of $7,386,762.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 635,793 shares of company stock valued at $186,389,768 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on CRM. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $360.00 price target (up from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report 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 report on Monday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.61.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM traded down $3.10 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $273.09. 4,809,033 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,686,380. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The company has a market cap of $264.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.14, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $296.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $263.37. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.57 and a twelve month high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.52%.

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.