HBW Advisory Services LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

HBW Advisory Services LLC lowered its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,125 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 645 shares during the quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,791,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 30.5% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 25,546 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,856,000 after buying an additional 5,965 shares during the period. Baxter Bros Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 34.9% in the 1st quarter. Baxter Bros Inc. now owns 2,502 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $671,000 after acquiring an additional 647 shares during the period. Pioneer Wealth Management Group purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at $412,000. Gradient Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 44,283 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $11,884,000 after acquiring an additional 1,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arlington Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Arlington Financial Advisors LLC now owns 15,251 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,093,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.37, for a total transaction of $1,725,518.77. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,750 shares in the company, valued at $12,967,047.50. This trade represents a 11.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 705 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.44, for a total transaction of $197,005.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,605,219.12. The trade was a 7.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 40,332 shares of company stock worth $11,024,802. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $261.28 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $227.77 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The business has a 50 day moving average of $266.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $303.86. The company has a market capitalization of $251.19 billion, a PE ratio of 42.97, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.42.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.44 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a $0.42 dividend. This is a boost from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Westpark Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $370.00 price objective (down previously from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $343.32.

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.