Financial Connections Group Inc. Cuts Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Financial Connections Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 30.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. 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 SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CRM. Nvest Financial LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Nvest Financial LLC now owns 2,806 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $938,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. OMC Financial Services LTD increased its holdings in Salesforce by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. OMC Financial Services LTD now owns 11,390 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,808,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Sachetta LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 11,018 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,684,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 0.5% in the third quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,860,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EWA LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 1.7% in the third quarter. EWA LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $548,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,344,899.96. The trade was a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,217,696,838.46. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock worth $384,366,700. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Guggenheim cut Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.63.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $324.50 on Wednesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00. 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 stock has a market cap of $310.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a 50 day moving average of $338.89 and a 200-day moving average of $301.53.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted 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 company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.62 earnings per share. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

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.