Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Has $52.29 Million Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 11.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 156,400 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 19,615 shares during the quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $52,289,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CRM. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,473 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $12,194,000 after buying an additional 4,752 shares during the last quarter. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc bought a new stake in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,215,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $15,885,000 after purchasing an additional 6,938 shares during the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 16.1% during the third quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,629,000 after buying an additional 1,834 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AIA Group Ltd increased its stake in Salesforce by 8.9% during the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $6,577,000 after acquiring an additional 1,962 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Guggenheim lowered Salesforce from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $247.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $377.63.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total transaction of $1,178,057.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 119,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,431,349.48. The trade was a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total value of $249,995,253.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,192,009 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,104,786,234.99. The trade was a 18.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,108,669 shares of company stock valued at $383,286,905 over the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Salesforce stock traded down $1.78 on Friday, hitting $341.80. 5,776,873 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,646,040. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $327.10 billion, a PE ratio of 56.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.30. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $338.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $297.37.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. Salesforce's quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.62 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

Salesforce Company 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.