Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 442 Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 6.9% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,810 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 442 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,828,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jag Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2,507.9% during the 4th quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 23,706 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $7,926,000 after purchasing an additional 22,797 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp increased its position in Salesforce by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 27,358 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $9,146,000 after buying an additional 723 shares during the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $823,000. Heartland Bank & Trust Co raised its stake in Salesforce by 117.2% in the first quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co now owns 5,981 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,605,000 after buying an additional 3,227 shares during the period. Finally, Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,249,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $271.86 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $259.90 billion, a PE ratio of 42.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.37. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $230.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $271.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $293.08.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.44 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider R David Schmaier sold 6,959 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total transaction of $1,762,784.29. Following the sale, the insider owned 36,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,141,957.90. The trade was a 16.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total value of $1,975,615.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 41,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,219,490. This represents a 13.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 28,534 shares of company stock worth $7,609,842 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CRM. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Stephens reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 30th. UBS Group set a $404.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Salesforce from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $347.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $349.08.

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.