OneAscent Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,834 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $492,000.
Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. AIA Group Ltd increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 32,885 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $8,825,000 after purchasing an additional 2,436 shares during the last quarter. Notis McConarty Edward increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 71.6% during the 1st quarter. Notis McConarty Edward now owns 3,844 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,032,000 after purchasing an additional 1,604 shares during the last quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. grew its position in Salesforce by 43.0% in the 1st quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 104,834 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $28,133,000 after acquiring an additional 31,537 shares in the last quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt grew its position in Salesforce by 121.9% in the 1st quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt now owns 355,000 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $95,222,000 after acquiring an additional 195,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Delaney Dennis R grew its position in Salesforce by 66.1% in the 1st quarter. Delaney Dennis R now owns 5,694 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,528,000 after acquiring an additional 2,266 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several research firms have weighed in on CRM. UBS Group set a $404.00 target price on Salesforce and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Salesforce from $320.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Salesforce from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Westpark Capital reissued a "buy" rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $347.50.
View Our Latest Analysis on CRM
Salesforce Stock Performance
Shares of Salesforce stock traded up $9.41 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $242.78. 12,936,592 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,984,759. Salesforce Inc. has a 1 year low of $226.48 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The business has a 50-day moving average of $261.05 and a 200-day moving average of $276.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $232.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.37.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.44 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Salesforce Cuts Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were given a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.98%.
Insider Transactions at Salesforce
In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.30, for a total value of $585,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,955,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,112,033,829.80. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold a total of 46,532 shares of company stock valued at $12,082,694 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.
About Salesforce
(
Free Report)
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.
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