Advisory Alpha LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Advisory Alpha LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 32.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,844 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 448 shares during the quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $474,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 186.7% in the first quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 86 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Piscataqua Savings Bank raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2,400.0% in the second quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 100 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Clear Investment Research LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 816.7% in the second quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Red Tortoise LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the first quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3,125.0% in the second quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 129 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $335.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. FBN Securities raised shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $308.03.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total transaction of $105,637.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,644,921.18. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total transaction of $105,637.14. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,644,921.18. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 2,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.22, for a total value of $675,416.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,362,888.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 67,985 shares of company stock worth $17,632,363. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.0 %

CRM stock opened at $270.87 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $256.95 and a 200 day moving average of $264.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $262.47 billion, a PE ratio of 48.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $193.68 and a 52 week high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.78%.

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.