Sapient Capital LLC Sells 665 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Sapient Capital LLC cut its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 10.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,631 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 665 shares during the quarter. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,698,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CRM. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. bought a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. increased its holdings in Salesforce by 333.3% in the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Red Tortoise LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:CRM traded down $6.80 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $268.94. The company had a trading volume of 5,211,266 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,632,453. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $295.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $265.65. The company has a market capitalization of $260.87 billion, a PE ratio of 64.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $190.76 and a one year high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on CRM shares. Mizuho reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 target price (up from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.61.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total transaction of $2,188,439.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 38,483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,903,561.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total transaction of $2,188,439.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,903,561.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.54, for a total transaction of $4,733,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,311,166 shares in the company, valued at $4,200,205,319.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 625,793 shares of company stock worth $183,318,868. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.