Aviance Capital Partners LLC Sells 4,940 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 72.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,857 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 4,940 shares during the period. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $621,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,173,564,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 52.7% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,433,785 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,482,347,000 after buying an additional 1,530,572 shares during the period. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 46.7% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,829,773 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,280,408,000 after buying an additional 1,219,254 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 171.2% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $447,470,000 after buying an additional 1,032,068 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 56,872.2% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 933,204 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $311,998,000 after buying an additional 931,566 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.00, for a total value of $1,872,521.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,071,750. This represents a 11.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 942 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.78, for a total value of $320,072.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 120,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,886,746.74. This trade represents a 0.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,108,793 shares of company stock worth $383,156,227. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $282.74 on Friday. 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 $270.58 billion, a PE ratio of 46.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.35. The business has a 50 day moving average of $323.68 and a 200 day moving average of $308.18. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price target on Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Macquarie cut their price objective on Salesforce from $370.00 to $320.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $365.62.

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.