Northwest Financial Advisors Boosts Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Northwest Financial Advisors grew its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 14.2% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,270 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 282 shares during the period. Northwest Financial Advisors’ holdings in Salesforce were worth $609,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $236,000. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $8,582,000 after acquiring an additional 3,102 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $104,173,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $611,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lion Street Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $209,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $266.81 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $266.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $302.92. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $255.07 billion, a PE ratio of 43.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $227.77 and a 52-week high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.44 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be given a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Northland Securities dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $423.00 to $396.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered Salesforce from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $420.00 to $275.00 in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $346.34.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total value of $1,975,615.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 41,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,219,490. The trade was a 13.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,273 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total value of $931,430.34. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 125,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,614,048.68. This represents a 2.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 40,332 shares of company stock valued at $11,024,802. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.