Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. decreased its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 9.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,998 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 2,542 shares during the quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $6,708,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,599,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 926.4% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,256,211 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,422,979,000 after buying an additional 3,841,521 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 30,456.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,801,588 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,020,194,000 after buying an additional 3,789,147 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 42.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,791,015 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,604,770,000 after acquiring an additional 2,325,156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Salesforce by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $3,752,830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,736,667 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock traded up $0.40 during trading on Thursday, hitting $267.62. 5,872,478 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,745,871. Salesforce Inc. has a 1 year low of $230.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $268.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $285.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $255.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.88, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.36. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.44 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were paid a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $404.00 target price (up previously from $393.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $275.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $347.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $348.16.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.69, for a total transaction of $611,302.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,862,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,222,910,942.33. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 41,422 shares in the company, valued at $12,219,490. The trade was a 13.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 33,479 shares of company stock worth $9,091,796. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.