Fortitude Advisory Group L.L.C. Reduces Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Fortitude Advisory Group L.L.C. reduced its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 12.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,101 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 160 shares during the period. Fortitude Advisory Group L.L.C.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $368,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Sachetta LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 11,018 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,684,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,860,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. EWA LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. EWA LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $548,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Umpqua Bank increased its holdings in Salesforce by 0.4% during the third quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 7,708 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,110,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Street Partners LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 1.0% in the third quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 3,297 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $891,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. This trade represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.23, for a total value of $145,115.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,506 shares in the company, valued at $1,888,236.38. The trade was a 7.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,109,169 shares of company stock worth $383,432,020. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $347.26 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $336.73 and a 200-day moving average of $294.60. The company has a market cap of $332.33 billion, a PE ratio of 57.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.62 earnings per share. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CRM. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Salesforce from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.63.

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.