Brown Advisory Inc. Has $38.47 Million Holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Brown Advisory Inc. lowered its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 1.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 143,348 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 2,472 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $38,469,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its stake in Salesforce by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,035 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $346,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Seven Mile Advisory grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 1,762 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $589,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in Salesforce by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 2,571 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $654,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC now owns 834 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $279,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Naviter Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 9,231 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,492,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $271.10 on Thursday. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $230.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The stock has a market cap of $259.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.36. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $272.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $290.38.

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 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 analysts' expectations of $9.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.44 earnings per share. Salesforce's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect 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 paid a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 (DPR) is 25.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Westpark Capital reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $320.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Salesforce from $367.00 to $350.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $349.08.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.82, for a total transaction of $609,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,862,457 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,212,590,604.74. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 261 shares of the company'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 value of $68,473.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 12,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,154,496.40. The trade was a 2.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 33,034 shares of company stock worth $8,833,235. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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