Sovereign Financial Group Inc. Lowers Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Sovereign Financial Group Inc. cut its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 13.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,090 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 176 shares during the period. Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $287,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Graypoint LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% in the fourth 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 period. Chase Investment Counsel Corp increased its holdings in Salesforce by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 10,377 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,730,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Opes Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $341,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 1.7% during 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. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Salesforce by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,045 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $275,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Argus boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.61.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE CRM traded up $1.58 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $277.21. 3,507,109 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,527,244. The company’s 50-day moving average is $293.29 and its 200-day moving average is $267.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $268.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.00, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $193.68 and a 52-week high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total value of $662,388.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,856 shares in the company, valued at $1,599,566.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total transaction of $662,388.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,599,566.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 24,453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.08, for a total transaction of $7,386,762.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 634,993 shares of company stock worth $185,373,074. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce 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.