Independent Advisor Alliance Acquires 541 Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Independent Advisor Alliance increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,884 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 541 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $11,777,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 450.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 314.8% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 112 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Abound Financial LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Guggenheim upgraded Salesforce from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. UBS Group set a $404.00 target price on Salesforce and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. DA Davidson restated an “underperform” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Salesforce from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $348.16.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.67, for a total value of $584,257.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,955,566 shares in the company, valued at $3,104,501,823.22. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total transaction of $1,975,615.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 41,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,219,490. This represents a 13.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 46,479 shares of company stock worth $12,457,591 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $240.09 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $263.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $278.75. The company has a market capitalization of $229.53 billion, a PE ratio of 37.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.37. 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 twelve month low of $230.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.44 EPS. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th were issued a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 25.98%.

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.