Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Position Lowered by Chesley Taft & Associates LLC

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC decreased its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 48,479 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 1,037 shares during the period. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $14,601,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 35,220 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $9,268,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 66.3% during the fourth quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management now owns 1,567 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $412,000 after buying an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 7,881 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,206,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,951,415 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,566,055,000 after buying an additional 18,397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 32.6% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 789,525 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $207,756,000 after buying an additional 194,224 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. DA Davidson cut their price target on Salesforce from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $325.00 price target (down previously from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, May 30th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $310.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Macquarie lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $275.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $292.79.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, COO Brian Millham sold 24,453 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.08, for a total value of $7,386,762.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total value of $662,388.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,599,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 24,453 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.08, for a total transaction of $7,386,762.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 541,787 shares of company stock valued at $149,773,683 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Up 4.0 %

Salesforce stock traded up $9.82 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $252.97. The stock had a trading volume of 12,862,790 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,938,266. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $260.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $276.33. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $193.68 and a twelve month high of $318.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market cap of $245.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.48, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.25.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $9.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.15 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.15 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Salesforce

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.