Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Reduces Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. reduced its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,734,170 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 69,584 shares during the period. Salesforce makes up about 0.6% of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned approximately 0.28% of Salesforce worth $823,477,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC now owns 22,143 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,669,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 19.3% during the first quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 7,075 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,134,000 after purchasing an additional 1,143 shares during the last quarter. West Oak Capital LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 106.2% in the first quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 1,495 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $450,000 after purchasing an additional 770 shares in the last quarter. InTrack Investment Management Inc increased its holdings in Salesforce by 2.5% in the first quarter. InTrack Investment Management Inc now owns 5,144 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,549,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quattro Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 18,911.4% during the first quarter. Quattro Financial Advisors LLC now owns 50,000 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $15,059,000 after buying an additional 49,737 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on CRM shares. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Salesforce from $355.00 to $295.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $292.79.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total value of $662,388.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,856 shares in the company, valued at $1,599,566.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total value of $662,388.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,856 shares in the company, valued at $1,599,566.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 942 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.32, for a total value of $228,265.44. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 22,154 shares in the company, valued at $5,368,357.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 494,952 shares of company stock valued at $135,205,453 over the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM traded up $3.73 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $259.92. The company had a trading volume of 1,896,681 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,918,195. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $193.68 and a 1-year high of $318.71. The stock has a market cap of $251.86 billion, a PE ratio of 46.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $259.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $276.46.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The business had revenue of $9.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 7.19%.

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.