Sovereign Financial Group Inc. Purchases 58 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Sovereign Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,251 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $336,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Athena Investment Management bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $236,000. Jag Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2,507.9% during the fourth quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 23,706 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $7,926,000 after buying an additional 22,797 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 27,358 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $9,146,000 after buying an additional 723 shares during the last quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. now owns 60,521 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $21,785,000 after buying an additional 1,525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at about $823,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Miguel Milano sold 705 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.44, for a total value of $197,005.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,323 shares in the company, valued at $2,605,219.12. This represents a 7.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $137,500.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,711 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,220,525. The trade was a 4.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 40,332 shares of company stock valued at $11,024,802 in the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup reduced their price target on Salesforce from $320.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $370.00 price target (down previously from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of Salesforce from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $420.00 to $275.00 in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $346.34.

Salesforce Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $274.48 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $262.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.14, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $227.77 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $266.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $302.42.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.44 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Salesforce’s payout ratio 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.