Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Decreases Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lowered its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 15,386 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 170 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $5,150,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nvest Financial LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Nvest Financial LLC now owns 2,806 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $938,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. OMC Financial Services LTD boosted its stake in Salesforce by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. OMC Financial Services LTD now owns 11,390 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 787 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Sachetta LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 11,018 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,684,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, Prossimo Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 3,366 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,125,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on CRM. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Salesforce from $375.00 to $367.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Salesforce from $415.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $365.62.

Insider Activity

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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,474,323. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total value of $109,965,671.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,217,696,838.46. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,108,793 shares of company stock valued at $383,156,227. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM opened at $282.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $270.58 billion, a PE ratio of 46.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.35. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $323.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $308.18.

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 net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.62 earnings per share. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

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.