Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Cuts Holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 48.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 80,448 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 75,952 shares during the quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $21,589,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV grew its holdings in Salesforce by 25.4% in the first quarter. Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV now owns 2,633 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $707,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. Shum Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Salesforce by 5.7% in the first quarter. Shum Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,031 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,082,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co grew its holdings in Salesforce by 117.2% in the first quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co now owns 5,981 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,605,000 after purchasing an additional 3,227 shares during the last quarter. Cyr Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Salesforce by 3.8% in the first quarter. Cyr Financial Inc. now owns 2,762 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $741,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Salesforce by 3.6% in the first quarter. Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,502 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $940,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on CRM. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $320.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $300.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $349.08.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.5%

CRM opened at $260.79 on Friday. Salesforce Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $230.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company has a fifty day moving average of $268.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $297.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $249.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.81, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.38.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.44 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be issued a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. Salesforce's payout ratio is 25.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, insider R David Schmaier sold 1,785 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.34, for a total transaction of $514,686.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,190 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,416,644.60. The trade was a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,273 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total transaction of $931,430.34. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 125,146 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,614,048.68. This represents a 2.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 34,111 shares of company stock valued at $9,299,283. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

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.

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