Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Acquires 2,591 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

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Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. boosted its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 1.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 224,897 shares of the CRM provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,591 shares during the quarter. Salesforce accounts for approximately 0.6% of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $60,386,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Coign Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Coign Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,183 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $586,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. increased its stake in Salesforce by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. now owns 3,343 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $897,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 3,165 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $849,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Salesforce by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 572 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $154,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mendel Money Management increased its stake in Salesforce by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Mendel Money Management now owns 1,112 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $298,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.7%

CRM opened at $244.15 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $233.41 billion, a PE ratio of 38.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $226.48 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $259.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $274.14.

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

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.30, for a total transaction of $585,675.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,955,566 shares in the company, valued at $3,112,033,829.80. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 48,782 shares of company stock worth $12,626,046. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on CRM shares. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $430.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Westpark Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $347.00 to $316.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $342.89.

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.

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