IPG Investment Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Key Points

• IPG Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Salesforce Inc. by 35.3%, selling 5,661 shares to hold a total of 10,362 shares valued at $2,781,000 by the end of the quarter.
• Salesforce's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $2.58, beating expectations, with revenue of $9.83 billion, reflecting a 7.6% year-over-year growth.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.416, which corresponds to an annualized yield of 0.7%, paid to shareholders of record on June 18th.

IPG Investment Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 35.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,362 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 5,661 shares during the quarter. IPG Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,781,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 450.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 314.8% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 112 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.67, for a total transaction of $584,257.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,955,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,104,501,823.22. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 value of $1,975,615.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 41,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,219,490. The trade was a 13.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 44,229 shares of company stock worth $11,898,691 in the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $275.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, July 14th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Westpark Capital reissued a "buy" rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $348.16.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock traded down $8.97 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $240.20. 2,950,570 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,044,412. The stock has a market cap of $229.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.59, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.37. 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 firm's fifty day moving average price is $264.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $280.68. Salesforce Inc. has a 12 month low of $230.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%. Salesforce's revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.44 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

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

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.