Sowell Financial Services LLC Invests $2.51 Million in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 9,345 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,508,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 787 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Prossimo Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 3,366 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,125,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Mainstream Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Mainstream Capital Management LLC now owns 6,409 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,143,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Citizens National Bank Trust Department lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Citizens National Bank Trust Department now owns 1,924 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $643,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Delap Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Delap Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $447,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on CRM shares. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Westpark Capital reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $370.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $430.00 to $400.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $349.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,909 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total transaction of $543,263.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,310 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,218,599.80. The trade was a 14.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 6,959 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total transaction of $1,762,784.29. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,141,957.90. This trade represents a 16.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,111 shares of company stock valued at $9,299,283 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:CRM traded down $3.78 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $258.98. 7,623,720 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,535,521. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market cap of $247.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.38. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $268.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $298.23. Salesforce Inc. has a 1 year low of $230.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.44 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be given a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.98%.

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.