NewEdge Wealth LLC Sells 4,537 Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Key Points

• NewEdge Wealth LLC reduced its stake in Salesforce Inc. by 2.1%, selling 4,537 shares, and now holds 209,788 shares valued at approximately $56.3 million.
• CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce for about $598,000, reducing his ownership by 0.02% to 11,911,571 shares.
• Salesforce's stock has seen a recent price target reduction from $350 to $335 by BMO Capital Markets while still maintaining an "outperform" rating.

NewEdge Wealth LLC lessened its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 2.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 209,788 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 4,537 shares during the quarter. Salesforce accounts for approximately 1.0% of NewEdge Wealth LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. NewEdge Wealth LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $56,299,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 18.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $3,752,830,000 after buying an additional 1,736,667 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,938,536 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,988,422,000 after acquiring an additional 1,683,233 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,658,132 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,894,673,000 after purchasing an additional 602,445 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 8,598,989 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,874,900,000 after buying an additional 114,278 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Salesforce by 42.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,791,015 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,604,770,000 after buying an additional 2,325,156 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 41,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,219,490. This trade represents a 13.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.67, for a total value of $584,257.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,955,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,104,501,823.22. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 44,229 shares of company stock valued at $11,898,691 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $275.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, July 14th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $430.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $348.16.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM stock traded up $1.38 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $248.87. The company had a trading volume of 5,825,520 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,073,268. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $265.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $280.90. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $230.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The company has a market capitalization of $237.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business 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 anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were paid a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.98%.

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.