Hilltop National Bank Cuts Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Hilltop National Bank lessened its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,908 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 60 shares during the period. Hilltop National Bank’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $638,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Veritas Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at $733,805,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Salesforce by 48.3% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,518,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922,674 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Salesforce by 171.2% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $447,470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032,068 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 23,664.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,002,848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $274,490,000 after buying an additional 998,628 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 51.0% in the 2nd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,946,838 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $757,632,000 after buying an additional 994,670 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Macquarie reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $376.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total transaction of $249,995,253.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,192,009 shares in the company, valued at $1,104,786,234.99. This trade represents a 18.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.87, for a total transaction of $1,217,454.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 118,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,353,653.18. This represents a 3.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,181,817 shares of company stock worth $404,760,429. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM traded down $8.75 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $318.15. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,842,683 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,287,521. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The company has a market cap of $304.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $335.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $288.53.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

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.