Congress Asset Management Co. Reduces Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Congress Asset Management Co. lessened its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 3.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 306,085 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 10,592 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $82,141,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,955,353 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $6,656,078,000 after purchasing an additional 175,035 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,453,872 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $4,163,703,000 after purchasing an additional 177,321 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $3,752,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,736,667 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,599,867,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,938,536 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,988,422,000 after purchasing an additional 1,683,233 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $325.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $346.34.

Salesforce Trading Up 2.7%

NYSE CRM traded up $7.34 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $274.48. 7,500,949 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,591,192. The business's 50 day moving average is $266.57 and its 200-day moving average is $302.58. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $227.77 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $262.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.44 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be given a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 41,422 shares in the company, valued at $12,219,490. This trade represents a 13.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,909 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total value of $543,263.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,218,599.80. This trade represents a 14.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 40,332 shares of company stock worth $11,024,802. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.