Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Sold by King Luther Capital Management Corp

King Luther Capital Management Corp trimmed its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 5.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 245,503 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 14,220 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp's holdings in Salesforce were worth $67,197,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,141,562,000 after purchasing an additional 176,641 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 48.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,922,674 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 25.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,378,826 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,125,331,000 after purchasing an additional 877,495 shares during the last quarter. ValueAct Holdings L.P. raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 12.3% during the 2nd quarter. ValueAct Holdings L.P. now owns 3,914,309 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,006,369,000 after purchasing an additional 428,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 22.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,492,583 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $897,935,000 after purchasing an additional 646,127 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $35,431,349.48. This trade represents a 3.22 % 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 hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value 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 trade represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 136,117 shares of company stock valued at $39,085,562 in the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $325.70 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $291.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $267.72. The firm has a market cap of $311.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.64, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $348.86.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. Salesforce's quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on CRM shares. FBN Securities raised shares of Salesforce to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Phillip Securities restated an "accumulate" rating and issued a $305.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Northland Securities upgraded shares of Salesforce from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $270.00 to $400.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $326.19.

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.

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