Empower Advisory Group LLC Reduces Stock Position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Key Points

• Empower Advisory Group LLC reduced its stake in Salesforce Inc. by 1.1%, now owning 363,560 shares valued at approximately $97.57 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Cary Street Partners Financial LLC and New Age Alpha Advisors LLC, have increased their positions in Salesforce during the same period, showcasing a mixed sentiment among investors.
• Salesforce's stock performance saw analysts set target prices ranging from $380.00 to $430.00, with a current consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

Empower Advisory Group LLC cut its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 363,560 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 3,881 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $97,565,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.2% during the first quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 44,968 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $12,067,000 after buying an additional 987 shares during the period. Advyzon Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 27.2% during the 1st quarter. Advyzon Investment Management LLC now owns 1,197 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $321,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 237.3% in the 1st quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 34,739 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $9,323,000 after purchasing an additional 24,440 shares in the last quarter. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Salesforce by 81.8% in the 1st quarter. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. now owns 2,556 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $686,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 31.1% in the 1st quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 782,929 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $210,107,000 after purchasing an additional 185,826 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.67, for a total transaction of $584,257.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,955,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,104,501,823.22. This trade represents 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 this link. 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 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 sold a total of 41,979 shares of company stock valued at $11,330,746 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. UBS Group set a $404.00 price target on shares of Salesforce and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $430.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Guggenheim raised shares of Salesforce from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $348.16.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $252.21 on Tuesday. 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's fifty day simple moving average is $265.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $281.14. The stock has a market cap of $241.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.37. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.44 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were given a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CRM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.