Callahan Advisors LLC Acquires 1,068 Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Callahan Advisors LLC raised its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 3.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,434 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,068 shares during the quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $8,436,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $8,582,000 after buying an additional 3,102 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $611,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 70.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,791 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $933,000 after purchasing an additional 1,153 shares in the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 59.3% in the fourth quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 5,599 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,872,000 after purchasing an additional 2,085 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFG Advisors lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 2,604 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $871,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,525 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.66, for a total transaction of $386,831.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 12,211 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,097,442.26. This represents a 11.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,862,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,232,282,283.36. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,284 shares of company stock valued at $9,444,537 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $263.95 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market capitalization of $252.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.31, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.36. The stock's 50 day moving average is $272.43 and its 200 day moving average is $289.84. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $230.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.44 EPS. The company's revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were paid a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is 25.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup dropped their price target on Salesforce from $320.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 30th. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $370.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Guggenheim upgraded Salesforce from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $348.68.

Salesforce Profile

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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