AlphaStar Capital Management LLC Purchases 6,402 Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

AlphaStar Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 776.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,226 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,402 shares during the period. AlphaStar Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,939,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the first quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $404.00 target price (up from $393.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 30th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $349.08.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM stock opened at $270.22 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $258.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.29, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.36. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $230.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $272.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $290.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be paid a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 25.98%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 1,142 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total value of $299,603.70. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 136,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,895,776.40. The trade was a 0.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 405 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total value of $106,251.75. Following the sale, the insider owned 9,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,605,922.55. The trade was a 3.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,784 shares of company stock worth $8,223,890 in the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.