Wealth Alliance Sells 788 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Wealth Alliance decreased its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,563 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 788 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,043,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.9% during the third quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,633 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $534,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $214,000. Riversedge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 21.7% in the third quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 2,353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $477,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the third quarter worth approximately $2,499,000. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 47.5% in the third quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 2,499,630 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $506,875,000 after purchasing an additional 804,634 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock traded up $6.22 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $279.12. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,978,329 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,689,304. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $190.57 and a one year high of $318.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $298.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $260.26. The stock has a market cap of $270.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.28.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price target (up previously from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $307.87.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, COO Brian Millham sold 293,965 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $82,310,200.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, COO Brian Millham sold 293,965 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $82,310,200.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.01, for a total transaction of $4,110,150.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,761,166 shares in the company, valued at $3,770,697,095.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 897,375 shares of company stock valued at $260,206,096 in the last three months. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce 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.