Advisory Alpha LLC Sells 1,012 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Advisory Alpha LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 41.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,445 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 1,012 shares during the quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $388,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. OMC Financial Services LTD boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. OMC Financial Services LTD now owns 11,390 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 787 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Prossimo Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 3,366 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,125,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,457 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $487,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, Mainstream Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Mainstream Capital Management LLC now owns 6,409 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,143,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on CRM. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Thursday. DA Davidson reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $367.00 to $350.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $404.00 price objective (up from $393.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $343.32.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,256 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total transaction of $318,157.36. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,826 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,248,954.06. The trade was a 8.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 6,959 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total transaction of $1,762,784.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 36,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,141,957.90. This represents a 16.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,553 shares of company stock valued at $12,897,323 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of CRM stock traded down $1.89 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $265.03. The stock had a trading volume of 12,373,506 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,670,055. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $227.77 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $267.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $304.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $254.80 billion, a PE ratio of 43.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.42.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.44 earnings per share. Salesforce's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. This is a positive change from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Salesforce's payout ratio is presently 25.98%.

Salesforce 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.