Wakefield Asset Management LLLP Acquires New Position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Wakefield Asset Management LLLP bought a new position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 1,575 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $423,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $8,582,000 after acquiring an additional 3,102 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $611,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 65.5% during the 4th quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,232 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $730,000 after purchasing an additional 883 shares in the last quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust increased its stake in Salesforce by 81.1% during the 4th quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust now owns 1,606 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $537,000 after purchasing an additional 719 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in Salesforce by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 18,052 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $6,035,000 after purchasing an additional 867 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on CRM shares. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $275.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, July 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Guggenheim upgraded shares of Salesforce from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $348.16.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM traded up $1.41 on Friday, hitting $269.11. 4,013,320 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,704,325. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $230.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $268.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $284.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $257.27 billion, a PE ratio of 42.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.36.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.44 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th were paid a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.69, for a total value of $611,302.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,862,457 shares in the company, valued at $3,222,910,942.33. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 41,422 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,219,490. The trade was a 13.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 33,479 shares of company stock valued at $9,091,796. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

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.