Demars Financial Group LLC Sells 80,568 Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Demars Financial Group LLC decreased its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 12.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 575,270 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 80,568 shares during the period. Salesforce comprises 0.5% of Demars Financial Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Demars Financial Group LLC owned about 0.06% of Salesforce worth $154,379,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CRM. Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $300.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $325.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine 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, Salesforce has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $346.34.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE CRM traded down $3.78 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $258.98. The stock had a trading volume of 7,623,720 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,535,519. The firm has a market cap of $247.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.38. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $230.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company's 50 day moving average price is $268.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $299.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.44 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,909 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total transaction of $543,263.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,218,599.80. The trade was a 14.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total transaction of $1,975,615.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 41,422 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 34,111 shares of company stock worth $9,299,283 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

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.