Salesforce Inc. $CRM Shares Acquired by B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG

Key Points

• B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG increased its stake in Salesforce Inc. by 75.3%, acquiring an additional 96,437 shares, bringing its total holdings to 224,522 shares valued at around $60.25 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Goldman Sachs, also modified their stakes in Salesforce, with Vanguard's holdings rising to nearly $23.6 billion after purchasing more shares.
• A number of analysts have adjusted their price targets for Salesforce, with estimates ranging from $225 to $404, and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $340.54.

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 75.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 224,522 shares of the CRM provider's stock after acquiring an additional 96,437 shares during the quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG's holdings in Salesforce were worth $60,252,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the first quarter worth about $2,039,196,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 926.4% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,256,211 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,422,979,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841,521 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 30,456.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,801,588 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,020,194,000 after purchasing an additional 3,789,147 shares during the last quarter. Longview Partners Guernsey LTD bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the first quarter worth about $467,944,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1,744.0% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,820,262 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $488,486,000 after purchasing an additional 1,721,550 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the topic of several research reports. Stephens reduced their target price on Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 30th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Salesforce from $350.00 to $335.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Salesforce from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $404.00 price target (up previously from $393.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Westpark Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $320.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $341.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.02, for a total value of $578,295.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,061,511,978.42. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 59,327 shares of company stock valued at $15,201,738 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE CRM traded up $1.84 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $256.37. The stock had a trading volume of 7,354,032 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,243,193. 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 firm has a market cap of $245.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.37. The business's fifty day moving average price is $257.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $269.27. Salesforce Inc. has a 52-week low of $226.48 and a 52-week high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%.Salesforce's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.44 earnings per share. 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th were paid a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Salesforce's payout ratio is 25.98%.

About Salesforce

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.