Western Pacific Wealth Management LP Lowers Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Western Pacific Wealth Management LP cut its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 54.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,116 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 2,573 shares during the period. Salesforce comprises approximately 0.4% of Western Pacific Wealth Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $579,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 26.9% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,329,925,000 after acquiring an additional 3,044,611 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC bought a new position in Salesforce during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $910,220,000. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Salesforce during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $874,748,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $733,805,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 48.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,518,658,000 after buying an additional 1,922,674 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CRM. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. UBS Group upped their price target on Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Northland Securities raised Salesforce from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $270.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Northland Capmk raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $234.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $313.37.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $310.78 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $297.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $208.84 and a 12-month high of $318.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $275.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $263.86.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 27.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total value of $608,108.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $202,702.68. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,573 shares of company stock valued at $42,319,874 in the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.