Alps Advisors Inc. Acquires 2,805 Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Alps Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 35.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,809 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,805 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,901,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 15.9% in the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 26,442 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $6,999,000 after acquiring an additional 3,624 shares during the last quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.6% in the first quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 5,342 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,434,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 10.1% in the first quarter. Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 6,435 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,727,000 after acquiring an additional 588 shares during the last quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 12.2% in the first quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 866 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $232,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Poinciana Advisors Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the first quarter worth $230,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, insider R David Schmaier sold 6,959 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider owned 36,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,141,957.90. This trade represents a 16.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total value of $1,975,615.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 41,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,219,490. This trade represents a 13.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,284 shares of company stock worth $9,444,537 in the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Trading Down 2.2%

CRM stock traded down $5.74 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $258.23. The stock had a trading volume of 7,004,264 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,540,561. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $272.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $289.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market cap of $246.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.41, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.36. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $230.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%. The company's revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.44 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were issued a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CRM. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. DA Davidson restated an "underperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Stephens reduced their target price on Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut Salesforce from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $348.16.

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.