Curbstone Financial Management Corp Decreases Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Curbstone Financial Management Corp lowered its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,626 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 50 shares during the period. Curbstone Financial Management Corp’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,212,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Salesforce in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. increased its stake in Salesforce by 300.0% in the third quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 135.6% during the third quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Up 4.0 %

Shares of CRM opened at $347.26 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The stock has a market cap of $332.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $336.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $294.60.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on CRM. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $415.00 target price (up previously from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Guggenheim cut Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.63.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total value of $1,178,057.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total value of $249,995,253.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,192,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,104,786,234.99. The trade was a 18.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,109,169 shares of company stock valued at $383,432,020 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.