Artemis Investment Management LLP Increases Stock Position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Artemis Investment Management LLP lifted its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 38.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,663 shares of the CRM provider's stock after acquiring an additional 17,447 shares during the quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP's holdings in Salesforce were worth $16,816,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Northland Securities dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $423.00 to $396.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut Salesforce from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $420.00 to $275.00 in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $349.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,256 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,248,954.06. This trade represents a 8.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Oscar Munoz bought 3,882 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $257.28 per share, for a total transaction of $998,760.96. Following the purchase, the director now owns 11,843 shares in the company, valued at $3,046,967.04. This represents a 48.76% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 26,284 shares of company stock valued at $6,996,762 in the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE CRM opened at $270.50 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $269.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $295.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company has a market cap of $258.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.38. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.44 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be issued a $0.416 dividend. 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 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.

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