Polen Capital Management LLC Trims Holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Key Points

• Polen Capital Management LLC significantly reduced its stake in Salesforce Inc. by 57.8%, selling 11,325 shares and owning 8,257 shares worth approximately $2,216,000 at the end of the first quarter.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Salesforce; while Goldman Sachs upgraded its price target to $385.00 with a "buy" rating, DA Davidson maintained an "underperform" rating with a $200.00 target.
• Salesforce reported a quarterly earnings of $2.58 per share, exceeding estimates, with a revenue of $9.83 billion, representing a year-over-year increase of 7.6%.

Polen Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 57.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,257 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 11,325 shares during the period. Polen Capital Management LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,216,000 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. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 450.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 314.8% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 112 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abound Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.34, for a total transaction of $540,765.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at $2,862,826,974.14. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last three months, insiders sold 48,729 shares of company stock worth $12,998,356. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on CRM shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Northland Securities decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $423.00 to $396.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $347.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $404.00 target price (up previously from $393.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $348.16.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE CRM traded down $8.05 on Monday, reaching $232.46. 10,723,629 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,062,013. The stock has a market cap of $222.23 billion, a PE ratio of 36.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.37. Salesforce Inc. has a 12 month low of $230.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00. 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 50-day simple moving average of $263.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $278.75.

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

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

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

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.