Bleakley Financial Group LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 45.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 40,795 shares of the CRM provider's stock after acquiring an additional 12,681 shares during the quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $10,948,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 1st quarter valued at about $297,000. Pointe Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Pointe Capital Management LLC now owns 2,964 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $795,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,637 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $708,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 24,791 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $6,653,000 after buying an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Secured Retirement Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,198,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $258.23 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $246.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $272.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $288.49. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $230.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.44 EPS. Analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were given a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's payout ratio is 25.98%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total transaction of $1,975,615.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,422 shares in the company, valued at $12,219,490. This 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, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.48, for a total value of $613,080.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,862,457 shares in the company, valued at $3,232,282,283.36. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,284 shares of company stock valued at $9,444,537 over the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CRM shares. Barclays reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $425.00 to $347.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. UBS Group set a $404.00 price objective on Salesforce and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $348.16.

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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