Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Sold by Alterity Financial Group LLC

Alterity Financial Group LLC lessened its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,245 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 75 shares during the quarter. Salesforce makes up about 1.6% of Alterity Financial Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Alterity Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,117,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Union Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. increased its holdings in Salesforce by 333.3% during the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.1 %

CRM stock opened at $301.18 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $294.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $252.10. The company has a market cap of $292.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.71, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.28. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $187.31 and a 12-month high of $318.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.01 earnings per share. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.54, for a total transaction of $4,733,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,311,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,200,205,319.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total value of $60,201.36. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $799,618.99. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.54, for a total value of $4,733,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,311,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,200,205,319.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 901,258 shares of company stock worth $256,569,563 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on CRM shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $275.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Salesforce from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. TheStreet upgraded Salesforce from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Mizuho restated a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price objective (up from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $304.32.

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.