Dover Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Dover Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 24.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,070 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 688 shares during the quarter. Dover Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $545,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Graypoint LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 10,504 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,764,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $341,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Prentice Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,294 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $604,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Salesforce by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,045 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $275,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Beaumont Asset Management L.L.C. increased its position in Salesforce by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Beaumont Asset Management L.L.C. now owns 8,901 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,342,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.12, for a total transaction of $2,831,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 60,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,104,977.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.12, for a total value of $2,831,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 60,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,104,977.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 942 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.46, for a total value of $287,743.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 39,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,040,011.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 620,793 shares of company stock worth $182,177,918 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE CRM traded up $1.15 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $274.29. The company had a trading volume of 3,754,585 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,162,527. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $190.76 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71. The company has a market capitalization of $266.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $295.97 and its 200 day moving average is $264.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on CRM. UBS Group boosted their target price on Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. TheStreet raised Salesforce from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Bank of America upped their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Mizuho reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 target price (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.61.

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.