Salesforce Inc. $CRM Shares Sold by River Wealth Advisors LLC

Key Points

• River Wealth Advisors LLC cut its Salesforce stake by 27.0%, selling 12,423 shares and ending the quarter with 33,545 shares worth $9.15 million, making CRM its 23rd-largest holding.
• Major institutions were active: Norges Bank (~$2.83B) and Nuveen (~$2.04B) opened large positions, while Laurel Wealth Advisors and Acadian dramatically increased holdings, leaving institutional ownership at about 80.4%.
• Analysts show a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $325.42, and Salesforce recently beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates (EPS $2.91; revenue $10.24B) while trading near $234.84.

River Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 27.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 33,545 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 12,423 shares during the quarter. Salesforce makes up approximately 1.1% of River Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. River Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $9,147,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Salesforce during the second quarter worth approximately $2,826,049,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 1st quarter valued at $2,039,196,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 27,361.5% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,424,169 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $933,737,000 after buying an additional 3,411,700 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 1,729.6% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,973,141 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $538,020,000 after buying an additional 1,865,297 shares during the period. Finally, Longview Partners Guernsey LTD acquired a new position in Salesforce in the first quarter valued at $467,944,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 122 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.00, for a total value of $31,598.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,085,096,889. This trade represents a 0.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold 51,872 shares of company stock worth $12,801,203 over the last 90 days. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Salesforce from $275.00 to $265.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Salesforce from $400.00 to $340.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Northland Securities downgraded shares of Salesforce from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $264.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $375.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Roth Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $395.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Twenty-six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $325.42.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $234.84 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $242.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $253.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market cap of $223.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.13, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.25. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $221.96 and a 1-year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.87% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.56 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th were issued 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 of this dividend was Wednesday, September 17th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is 24.13%.

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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