Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Trims Stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 12.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,121 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 1,411 shares during the quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,716,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its stake in Salesforce by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,035 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Seven Mile Advisory grew its holdings in Salesforce by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 1,762 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $589,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 3,165 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $849,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in Salesforce by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 2,571 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $654,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC now owns 834 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $279,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Trading Down 2.2%

NYSE:CRM traded down $5.74 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $258.23. The company had a trading volume of 7,004,264 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,547,931. The company has a market capitalization of $246.87 billion, a PE ratio of 40.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $272.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $288.49. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $230.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The business 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 business posted $2.44 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total transaction of $1,975,615.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 41,422 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,219,490. This represents a 13.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.48, for a total value of $613,080.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,862,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,232,282,283.36. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 35,284 shares of company stock valued at $9,444,537. Insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CRM shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 30th. DA Davidson reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Salesforce from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Guggenheim upgraded shares of Salesforce from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $348.16.

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.