Sonora Investment Management Group LLC Purchases 8,121 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Sonora Investment Management Group LLC increased its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 36.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,694 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 8,121 shares during the quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $8,237,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,599,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 926.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 3,841,521 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 30,456.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,801,588 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,020,194,000 after buying an additional 3,789,147 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,173,564,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 42.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,791,015 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,604,770,000 after purchasing an additional 2,325,156 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on CRM. Loop Capital lowered their target price on Salesforce from $330.00 to $300.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. DA Davidson restated an "underperform" rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $347.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $370.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $346.34.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM stock traded down $2.29 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $265.93. The stock had a trading volume of 6,556,774 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,578,379. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $227.77 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The company has a market cap of $254.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $266.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $301.47.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.44 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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 will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be issued a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, insider R David Schmaier sold 6,959 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total value of $1,762,784.29. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 36,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,141,957.90. This trade represents a 16.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 705 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.44, for a total transaction of $197,005.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,605,219.12. This represents a 7.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 40,332 shares of company stock valued at $11,024,802. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

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.