J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 17.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,018 shares of the CRM provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,752 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,225,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 450.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 314.8% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 112 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Guggenheim upgraded Salesforce from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $370.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. DA Davidson reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $275.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, July 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $348.16.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.0%

Salesforce stock opened at $262.40 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $250.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $230.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The company's 50-day moving average price is $270.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $285.85.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.44 EPS. As a group, analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th were paid a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.98%.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,525 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.66, for a total value of $386,831.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 12,211 shares in the company, valued at $3,097,442.26. The trade was a 11.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly 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 33,819 shares of company stock worth $9,111,823 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

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.

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.