DB Fitzpatrick & Co Inc Sells 1,548 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

DB Fitzpatrick & Co Inc lowered its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 30.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,530 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 1,548 shares during the quarter. DB Fitzpatrick & Co Inc's holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,180,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aviance Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 0.5% during the third quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,860,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. EWA LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 1.7% during the third quarter. EWA LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $548,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Umpqua Bank increased its stake in Salesforce by 0.4% during the third quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 7,708 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,110,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% during the third quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 3,297 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $891,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, Nvwm LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% during the third quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 2,565 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $667,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Salesforce stock traded up $4.77 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $324.77. 6,283,814 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,604,853. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00. 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 firm has a market cap of $310.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.42, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $337.31 and a 200 day moving average of $291.56.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is 26.32%.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now owns 3,192,009 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,104,786,234.99. This represents a 18.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,183,838 shares of company stock valued at $405,595,158. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CRM. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $377.63.

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.