Sovereign Financial Group Inc. Sells 36 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Sovereign Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,193 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 36 shares during the quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $399,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 300.0% in the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 135.6% during the 3rd quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 139 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $55,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total transaction of $109,965,671.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. This trade represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total value of $249,995,253.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,192,009 shares in the company, valued at $1,104,786,234.99. This trade represents a 18.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,177,617 shares of company stock worth $403,542,975. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.8 %

CRM opened at $321.01 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $336.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $290.66. 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 $307.21 billion, a PE ratio of 52.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on CRM shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $415.00 price objective (up previously from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $376.05.

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.