Taurus Asset Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Taurus Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 95,988 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 2,800 shares during the quarter. Salesforce makes up approximately 2.6% of Taurus Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Taurus Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $26,273,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1,126.0% during the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 9,367 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,821,000 after buying an additional 8,603 shares during the last quarter. Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the first quarter valued at about $214,000. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 186.2% in the 1st quarter. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC now owns 457,900 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $137,910,000 after purchasing an additional 297,900 shares during the period. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at about $969,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 103.5% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 54,761 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $16,494,000 after purchasing an additional 27,850 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total transaction of $1,178,057.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 119,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,431,349.48. This represents a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 144,373 shares of company stock valued at $41,250,680 in the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $325.26 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $310.95 billion, a PE ratio of 56.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $348.86. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $286.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $266.61.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $234.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Salesforce from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. UBS Group upped their target price on Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Northland Capmk upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $322.51.

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.