R Squared Ltd Makes New $572,000 Investment in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Key Points

• R Squared Ltd acquired 2,130 shares of Salesforce Inc. in Q1, making an investment valued at approximately $572,000.
• Salesforce's latest earnings report surpassed expectations with $2.58 EPS and $9.83 billion in revenue.
• Analysts have varying ratings on Salesforce, with an average price target of $348.16 and a high of $400.00.

R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 2,130 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $572,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 450.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 314.8% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 112 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 15th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $335.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Northland Securities dropped their price target on Salesforce from $423.00 to $396.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Stephens decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $348.16.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total value of $1,975,615.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 41,422 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,219,490. This trade represents a 13.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.67, for a total value of $584,257.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,955,566 shares in the company, valued at $3,104,501,823.22. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,729 shares of company stock worth $10,763,881 over the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Stock Down 2.9%

Shares of NYSE:CRM traded down $7.48 during trading on Friday, reaching $250.85. The stock had a trading volume of 7,643,247 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,567,701. 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 company has a market capitalization of $239.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.26, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.37. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $266.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $281.92. Salesforce Inc. has a one year low of $230.00 and a one year high of $369.00.

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

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th were given a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

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.