ORG Partners LLC Sells 6,377 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

ORG Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 96.6% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 227 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 6,377 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $69,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,561,325 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,147,402,000 after purchasing an additional 457,463 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,921,042 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,926,323,000 after purchasing an additional 752,566 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 76.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,708,615 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,607,493,000 after purchasing an additional 5,935,973 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $2,762,331,000. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,951,415 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,566,055,000 after purchasing an additional 18,397 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, May 24th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $355.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $355.00 to $295.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $292.79.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.2 %

CRM stock traded up $2.89 during trading on Friday, reaching $254.01. The stock had a trading volume of 3,777,275 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,918,917. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $193.68 and a one year high of $318.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company’s 50 day moving average is $256.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $275.90. The company has a market capitalization of $246.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.29.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The business had revenue of $9.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 9th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.78%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.90, for a total transaction of $4,303,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,512,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,589,786,616.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Salesforce news, Director G Mason Morfit purchased 428,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $233.17 per share, for a total transaction of $99,796,760.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 3,914,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $912,699,429.53. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.90, for a total transaction of $4,303,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,512,327 shares in the company, valued at $3,589,786,616.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 439,152 shares of company stock valued at $118,115,911 in the last three months. Company insiders own 3.20% 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.