Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Sold by Jennison Associates LLC

Jennison Associates LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 19.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,569,900 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 863,885 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC owned about 0.37% of Salesforce worth $958,018,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Saturna Capital Corp lifted its position in Salesforce by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 6,941 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,863,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Carson Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 2,147 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $576,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Burling Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 7.0% during the first quarter. Burling Wealth Partners LLC now owns 19,778 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $5,308,000 after purchasing an additional 1,286 shares during the last quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV raised its holdings in Salesforce by 12.0% during the first quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 921 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $247,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 13.7% during the first quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 152,467 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $40,916,000 after purchasing an additional 18,350 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,525 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.66, for a total value of $386,831.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 12,211 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,097,442.26. This represents a 11.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total value of $1,975,615.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,422 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,219,490. This trade represents a 13.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 33,819 shares of company stock valued at $9,111,823. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CRM. UBS Group set a $404.00 price target on Salesforce and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Salesforce from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Citigroup cut their price target on Salesforce from $320.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $348.16.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.5%

NYSE CRM traded up $1.31 on Monday, hitting $263.69. 2,092,707 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,546,585. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $270.45 and a 200 day moving average of $285.85. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $230.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The company has a market capitalization of $252.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.44 earnings per share. Salesforce's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th were issued a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.98%.

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.