Norden Group LLC Sells 2,134 Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Key Points

• Norden Group LLC reduced its stake in Salesforce by 25.9%, selling 2,134 shares in the first quarter, leaving it with a total of 6,097 shares valued at approximately $1.64 million.
• Salesforce's average rating is "Moderate Buy", with price targets varying from $200 to $430 following multiple analyst reports.
• Insider CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares recently for about $599,760, but still holds a substantial stake valued at over $3 billion.

Norden Group LLC decreased its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 25.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,097 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 2,134 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,636,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC lifted 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 last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 314.8% during the 1st 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. Finally, Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stephens reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 30th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $430.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $275.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, July 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased 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, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $348.16.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.11, for a total value of $605,497.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,205,522,871.81. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 37,979 shares of company stock worth $10,303,399 over the last quarter. Insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM traded down $4.99 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $259.83. 3,347,841 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,069,615. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $230.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $248.39 billion, a PE ratio of 40.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.36. The business's 50-day moving average price is $266.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $283.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.44 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were given a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.