Financial Partners Group Inc Lowers Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Financial Partners Group Inc trimmed its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 22.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,102 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 316 shares during the quarter. Financial Partners Group Inc’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $368,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nvest Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Nvest Financial LLC now owns 2,806 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $938,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Sachetta LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 11,018 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,684,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Aviance Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 0.5% in the third quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,860,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. EWA LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. EWA LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $548,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, Umpqua Bank raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 7,708 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,110,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. This trade represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total transaction of $1,178,057.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 119,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,431,349.48. The trade was a 3.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,108,669 shares of company stock valued at $383,286,905 in the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $341.80 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $338.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $297.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $327.10 billion, a PE ratio of 56.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. 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 (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Erste Group Bank raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.63.

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.