Albion Financial Group UT Acquires 641 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Albion Financial Group UT raised its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 8.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,891 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 641 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,377,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc grew its holdings in Salesforce by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 35,220 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $9,268,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 66.3% during the fourth quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management now owns 1,567 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $412,000 after acquiring an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 7,881 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,206,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,951,415 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,566,055,000 after acquiring an additional 18,397 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 32.6% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 789,525 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $207,756,000 after acquiring an additional 194,224 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock traded up $4.76 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $260.95. The stock had a trading volume of 4,755,525 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,945,109. The firm has a market capitalization of $252.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $259.03 and its 200 day moving average is $276.43. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $193.68 and a one year high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $9.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.15 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.15 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 9th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 7.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on CRM. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Salesforce from $231.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $250.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Wedbush lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $325.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $342.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $292.79.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 5,864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total value of $1,611,251.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 45,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,428,121.87. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 5,864 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total value of $1,611,251.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 45,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,428,121.87. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.66, for a total transaction of $3,249,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,407,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,688,171,467.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 494,952 shares of company stock worth $135,205,453 in the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.