Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Sold by Advisory Alpha LLC

Advisory Alpha LLC lowered its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 6.8% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,396 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 102 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $420,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its stake in Salesforce by 38.4% during the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,927 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $391,000 after acquiring an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management grew its stake in Salesforce by 49.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management now owns 12,532 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,541,000 after acquiring an additional 4,119 shares in the last quarter. Carmignac Gestion grew its stake in Salesforce by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Carmignac Gestion now owns 282,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $57,362,000 after acquiring an additional 29,387 shares in the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 35.0% during the 3rd quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,949 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,815,000 after acquiring an additional 2,319 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,198,494 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $648,591,000 after buying an additional 444,652 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 942 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.32, for a total value of $228,265.44. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 22,154 shares in the company, valued at $5,368,357.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.06, for a total transaction of $4,170,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,913,721 shares in the company, valued at $3,590,789,261.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 942 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.32, for a total transaction of $228,265.44. Following the sale, the insider now owns 22,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,368,357.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 439,152 shares of company stock worth $118,115,911 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock traded up $2.86 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $253.98. The stock had a trading volume of 861,199 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,895,370. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $193.68 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71. The firm has a market cap of $246.11 billion, a PE ratio of 45.54, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.29. 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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $256.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $275.90.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 9th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CRM. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $285.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $323.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $310.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” 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 issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $292.79.

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.