Aviance Capital Partners LLC Raises Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 18.6% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,021 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 333.3% during the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $355.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $323.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $292.79.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 5,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.17, for a total value of $1,400,952.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 116,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,193,087.81. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total transaction of $662,388.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,599,566.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 5,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.17, for a total transaction of $1,400,952.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 116,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,193,087.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 507,934 shares of company stock valued at $139,262,073 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE:CRM traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $257.09. 1,131,471 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,939,221. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $259.79 and its 200-day moving average is $276.47. The firm has a market cap of $249.12 billion, a PE ratio of 46.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $193.68 and a twelve month high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $9.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.15 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.15 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 9th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 7.19%.

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.