Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Key Points

• Motley Fool Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Salesforce Inc. by 5.2% in the first quarter, now holding 82,384 shares valued at $22.1 million, making it the 18th largest holding in their portfolio.
• Salesforce's recent quarterly earnings showed a revenue of $9.83 billion and an earnings per share of $2.58, surpassing analysts' expectations.
• Institutional investors own 80.43% of Salesforce's stock, indicating strong institutional confidence in the company.

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 5.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 82,384 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 4,505 shares during the period. Salesforce accounts for approximately 1.2% of Motley Fool Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $22,109,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Coign Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 1.7% during the first quarter. Coign Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,183 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $586,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in Salesforce by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. now owns 3,343 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $897,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mendel Money Management increased its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on CRM. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $347.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Salesforce from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Salesforce from $375.00 to $325.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $346.84.

Salesforce Stock Up 2.4%

CRM traded up $5.48 on Wednesday, hitting $237.14. The company had a trading volume of 10,198,534 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,188,270. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $262.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $277.72. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $226.48 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $226.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.37.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.44 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict 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 was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th were given a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.30, for a total transaction of $585,675.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,955,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,112,033,829.80. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 44,282 shares of company stock worth $11,554,754. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

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.