Sound Income Strategies LLC Sells 67 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Sound Income Strategies LLC decreased its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 10.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 572 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 67 shares during the quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $191,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CRM. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,215,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 13.6% in the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $15,885,000 after buying an additional 6,938 shares during the period. Aljian Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 16.1% in the third quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,629,000 after buying an additional 1,834 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,577,000 after acquiring an additional 1,962 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,395,132,000 after acquiring an additional 257,501 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Guggenheim downgraded Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total value of $1,178,057.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 119,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,431,349.48. This represents a 3.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.23, for a total transaction of $145,115.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,888,236.38. This trade represents a 7.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,173,891 shares of company stock valued at $402,840,388. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of CRM stock opened at $333.47 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $319.13 billion, a PE ratio of 54.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $336.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $293.49.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.