Wealth Alliance LLC Grows Position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Wealth Alliance LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 13.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,849 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,035 shares during the quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,375,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 450.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 314.8% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 112 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,525 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.66, for a total transaction of $386,831.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 12,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,097,442.26. The trade was a 11.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 4,586 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.66, for a total transaction of $1,163,284.76. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 33,273 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,440,029.18. This represents a 12.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 33,819 shares of company stock worth $9,111,823. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted 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. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $404.00 price target (up from $393.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. 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 report on Thursday, May 15th. Northland Securities decreased their price target on Salesforce from $423.00 to $396.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Salesforce from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $348.16.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $262.40 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $270.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $286.17. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $230.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $250.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.36.

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

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th were given a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 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.