Alpha Cubed Investments LLC Sells 458 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Alpha Cubed Investments LLC trimmed its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 14.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,701 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 458 shares during the period. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $711,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Vicus Capital increased its holdings in Salesforce by 153.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vicus Capital now owns 2,575 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $522,000 after acquiring an additional 1,558 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Salesforce by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 128,690 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $26,096,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066 shares during the last quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. increased its holdings in Salesforce by 22.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 1,223 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $248,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Salesforce by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,205,319 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $447,194,000 after acquiring an additional 63,887 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1834 Investment Advisors Co. increased its holdings in Salesforce by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. now owns 4,075 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $826,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.79, for a total transaction of $4,121,850.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,737,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,500,090,086.33. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total value of $662,388.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,599,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.79, for a total transaction of $4,121,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,737,327 shares in the company, valued at $3,500,090,086.33. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 610,793 shares of company stock valued at $179,074,618. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $365.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.61.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE CRM opened at $268.71 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market cap of $260.65 billion, a PE ratio of 64.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $295.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $265.65. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.76 and a 52 week high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. Salesforce’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.52%.

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.