Wellington Management Group LLP Sells 759,978 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group LLP reduced its stake in Salesforce Inc. by 9.1%, selling 759,978 shares and now holding approximately 7.6 million shares worth about $2.04 billion.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings reported an EPS of $2.58, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenue up 7.6% year-over-year at $9.83 billion.
• Salesforce has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.416, translating to an annualized yield of 0.7%, with a payout ratio of 25.98%.

Wellington Management Group LLP lowered its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 9.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,609,848 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 759,978 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned approximately 0.79% of Salesforce worth $2,042,179,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. AIA Group Ltd grew its position in Salesforce by 8.0% in the first quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 32,885 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $8,825,000 after acquiring an additional 2,436 shares during the last quarter. Notis McConarty Edward lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 71.6% in the first quarter. Notis McConarty Edward now owns 3,844 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,032,000 after acquiring an additional 1,604 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.5% in the first quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 1,036,482 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $274,802,000 after acquiring an additional 15,782 shares during the period. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 43.0% in the first quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 104,834 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $28,133,000 after acquiring an additional 31,537 shares during the period. Finally, Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt lifted its stake in Salesforce by 121.9% in the first quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt now owns 355,000 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $95,222,000 after buying an additional 195,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $242.78 on Monday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $260.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $274.82. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $226.48 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The stock has a market cap of $232.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.99, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

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

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group set a $404.00 price target on Salesforce and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Salesforce from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Guggenheim raised Salesforce from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Citigroup lowered their price target on Salesforce from $320.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Northland Securities lowered their price target on Salesforce from $423.00 to $396.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $347.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.30, for a total value 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. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 46,532 shares of company stock valued at $12,082,694. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

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