ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC Cuts Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC cut its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 14.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,186 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 554 shares during the quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $838,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Salesforce by 333.3% during the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of CRM stock traded up $1.53 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $273.66. 4,041,636 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,219,539. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.76 and a 1 year high of $318.71. The stock has a market cap of $264.90 billion, a PE ratio of 65.16, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $294.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $266.17.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.52%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.82, for a total value of $4,287,300.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,581,166 shares in the company, valued at $3,881,768,866.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.82, for a total value of $4,287,300.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,581,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,881,768,866.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 2,890 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total transaction of $893,934.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 60,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,687,877.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 629,993 shares of company stock worth $184,255,474 over the last quarter. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $360.00 target price (up from $275.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Salesforce from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Salesforce from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.61.

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.