Iowa State Bank Sells 367 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Iowa State Bank reduced its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,069 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 367 shares during the quarter. Salesforce makes up about 1.5% of Iowa State Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Iowa State Bank’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $7,044,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CRM. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Clear Investment Research LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 816.7% in the second quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Godsey & Gibb Inc. raised 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 in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Salesforce during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Annapolis Financial Services LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.0 %

NYSE CRM traded down $3.36 on Monday, hitting $329.54. 2,829,108 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,849,281. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $332.81 and a 200-day moving average of $286.81. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00. The company has a market cap of $315.37 billion, a PE ratio of 54.20, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. 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 (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on CRM. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. KeyCorp upgraded Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Northland Securities reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $440.00 target price (up previously from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $375.39.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, COO Brian Millham sold 6,161 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.75, for a total value of $1,785,149.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 969 shares in the company, valued at $280,767.75. This represents a 86.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.42, for a total value of $1,211,364.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 118,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,181,807.88. This represents a 3.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,186,017 shares of company stock worth $405,971,793 over the last quarter. 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.