Archford Capital Strategies LLC Increases Holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Archford Capital Strategies LLC increased its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 28.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,271 shares of the CRM provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,247 shares during the period. Archford Capital Strategies LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,756,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $8,582,000 after buying an additional 3,102 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $611,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its position 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 valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 21.8% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 9,733 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,739 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prasad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $344,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group set a $404.00 price objective on Salesforce and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Barclays cut their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $347.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Northland Securities reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $423.00 to $396.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Macquarie restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $349.08.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,256 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total value of $318,157.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,826 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,248,954.06. This trade represents a 8.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 6,959 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,090 shares in the company, 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 26,284 shares of company stock valued at $6,996,762. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM traded up $2.74 during trading on Thursday, hitting $270.50. The stock had a trading volume of 6,668,207 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,510,166. The firm has a market capitalization of $258.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.33, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $230.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The company's 50-day moving average price is $269.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $295.75.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued 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 business had revenue of $9.83 billion for 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%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.44 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be given a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's payout ratio is 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.