Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires New Shares in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 947 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $254,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $3,599,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its position in Salesforce by 926.4% during the 4th 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 lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 30,456.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,801,588 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,020,194,000 after buying an additional 3,789,147 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $1,173,564,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 42.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,791,015 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,604,770,000 after buying an additional 2,325,156 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM traded up $2.27 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $271.48. The company had a trading volume of 5,023,606 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,536,719. Salesforce Inc. has a 52-week low of $230.00 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The company's 50 day moving average price is $272.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $292.92. 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 stock has a market cap of $259.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.36.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.44 EPS. The company's revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be given a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.98%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total value of $1,975,615.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 41,422 shares in the company, valued at $12,219,490. This trade represents a 13.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 1,142 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total transaction of $299,603.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 136,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,895,776.40. This trade represents a 0.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,534 shares of company stock worth $7,609,842 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Guggenheim upgraded Salesforce from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut Salesforce from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $420.00 to $275.00 in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $349.08.

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.