Alliancebernstein L.P. Raises Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 21.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,744,810 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 307,160 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $583,342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CRM. United Bank grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 7,303 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,999,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 89.4% in the third quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 1,710 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $468,000 after acquiring an additional 807 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.1% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 52,069 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $14,252,000 after acquiring an additional 582 shares in the last quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 39.3% in the 3rd quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 6,925 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,895,000 after purchasing an additional 1,954 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Timber Creek Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 17,483 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,785,000 after purchasing an additional 703 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $300.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $415.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $362.74.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $298,055.16. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,534,090. This represents a 1.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,273 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total transaction of $931,430.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 125,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,614,048.68. This trade represents a 2.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,660 shares of company stock worth $14,095,336 in the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of CRM opened at $270.04 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $259.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.35. 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 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $309.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $311.57.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. This is an increase from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 26.10%.

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.