1834 Investment Advisors Co. Sells 225 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

1834 Investment Advisors Co. reduced its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,800 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 225 shares during the period. 1834 Investment Advisors Co.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $936,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 300.0% in the third quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Salesforce during the second quarter valued at $33,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 135.6% during the third quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth about $55,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on CRM. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank increased their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.63.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $333.47 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market cap of $319.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $336.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $294.01.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Brian Millham sold 708 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $235,254.24. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 1,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $411,694.92. This trade represents a 36.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.23, for a total transaction of $145,115.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,888,236.38. The trade was a 7.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,173,891 shares of company stock worth $402,840,388 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.