Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Sold by IFC Advisors LLC

IFC Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 55.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,617 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 2,000 shares during the period. IFC Advisors LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $434,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,599,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 926.4% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,256,211 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,422,979,000 after buying an additional 3,841,521 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 30,456.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,801,588 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,020,194,000 after buying an additional 3,789,147 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 42.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,791,015 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,604,770,000 after buying an additional 2,325,156 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 18.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,752,830,000 after buying an additional 1,736,667 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 2.2%

CRM stock opened at $258.23 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $246.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.36. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $230.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The company's 50-day moving average price is $272.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $289.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

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. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The firm's revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.44 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $335.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $348.16.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,525 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.66, for a total transaction of $386,831.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 12,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,097,442.26. The trade was a 11.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total transaction of $1,975,615.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 41,422 shares of the company's stock, 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 35,284 shares of company stock worth $9,444,537. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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