Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Sold by Financial Connections Group Inc.

Financial Connections Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 30.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 263 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 114 shares during the quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $87,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. RBA Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 3.7% during the third quarter. RBA Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,172 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,426,000 after purchasing an additional 574 shares during the period. Fiduciary Alliance LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 1,262 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $345,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. CX Institutional increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.0% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 5,637 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,543,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Creative Planning increased its holdings in Salesforce by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 233,743 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $63,978,000 after purchasing an additional 17,350 shares during the period. Finally, Boomfish Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.4% during the third quarter. Boomfish Wealth Group LLC now owns 9,312 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,549,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Guggenheim cut Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 6th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 target price (up from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.63.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.00, for a total value of $2,133,803.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,474,323. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. The trade was a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock valued at $384,366,700. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $324.50 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $338.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $301.53. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The company has a market capitalization of $310.55 billion, a PE ratio of 53.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced 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). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

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.