Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 43.4% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 211 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 162 shares during the quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $57,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 85.1% in the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.37, for a total value of $1,725,518.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,750 shares in the company, valued at $12,967,047.50. The trade was a 11.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,909 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total transaction of $543,263.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,218,599.80. This represents a 14.44% 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 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $274.48 on Monday. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $227.77 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $266.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $302.19. The stock has a market cap of $262.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced 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. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.44 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on CRM. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered Salesforce from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $420.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $300.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $346.34.

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.