Philadelphia Trust Co. Sells 6,102 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Philadelphia Trust Co. reduced its stock position in Salesforce Inc. by 15.9% during the 1st quarter, now holding 32,386 shares valued at approximately $8.7 million.
• CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock for about $527,940, reducing his position slightly but still retaining over 11.9 million shares worth around $2.8 billion.
• Wall Street analysts maintain a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Salesforce, with target prices ranging from $225.00 to $396.00, amid mixed performance valuations.

Philadelphia Trust Co. decreased its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 15.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,386 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 6,102 shares during the period. Philadelphia Trust Co.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $8,691,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Coign Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Coign Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,183 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $586,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. boosted its position in Salesforce by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. now owns 3,343 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $897,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Liberty One Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 3,165 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $849,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 572 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $154,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Mendel Money Management lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Mendel Money Management now owns 1,112 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $298,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM traded up $1.71 on Monday, reaching $244.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,802,889 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,312,840. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $233.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.21, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.37. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $260.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $274.82. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $226.48 and a 12-month high of $369.00.

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

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were issued a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Salesforce's payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.30, for a total transaction of $585,675.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,955,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,112,033,829.80. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 48,782 shares of company stock worth $12,626,046 over the last quarter. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $375.00 to $325.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Northland Securities dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $423.00 to $396.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, DA Davidson raised shares of Salesforce from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $342.89.

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.