OneAscent Financial Services LLC Cuts Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

OneAscent Financial Services LLC cut its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 3.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,471 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $745,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. KRS Capital Management LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 1.6% in the first quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC now owns 5,706 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,719,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. bought a new stake in Salesforce in the first quarter worth about $303,000. Norway Savings Bank raised its position in Salesforce by 5.5% in the first quarter. Norway Savings Bank now owns 8,344 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,513,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares during the period. Kathmere Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the first quarter worth about $227,000. Finally, Asio Capital LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 4.3% in the first quarter. Asio Capital LLC now owns 16,731 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,046,000 after acquiring an additional 691 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $365.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $323.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued a “sector weight” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $292.79.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM stock opened at $257.10 on Friday. 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 one year low of $193.68 and a one year high of $318.71. The stock has a market cap of $249.13 billion, a PE ratio of 46.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $259.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $276.34.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 9th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.19%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.42, for a total transaction of $4,581,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,981,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,964,707,719.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Salesforce news, COO Brian Millham sold 24,453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.08, for a total transaction of $7,386,762.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.42, for a total transaction of $4,581,300.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,981,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,964,707,719.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 547,387 shares of company stock valued at $151,174,635. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.