Abner Herrman & Brock LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Abner Herrman & Brock LLC increased its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.1% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 78,152 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 885 shares during the period. Salesforce comprises 2.7% of Abner Herrman & Brock LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Abner Herrman & Brock LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $20,973,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth approximately $236,000. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $8,582,000 after buying an additional 3,102 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $104,173,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $611,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $91,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on CRM shares. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group reduced their price target on Salesforce from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $370.00 price objective (down previously from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday. Stephens cut their price objective on Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $343.32.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total transaction of $1,975,615.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 41,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,219,490. This trade represents a 13.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 705 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.44, for a total value of $197,005.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,605,219.12. The trade was a 7.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 46,553 shares of company stock valued at $12,897,323. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $265.03 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $267.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $304.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market cap of $254.80 billion, a PE ratio of 43.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.42. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $227.77 and a twelve month high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.44 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This is a positive change from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.98%.

Salesforce Company 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.