Callahan Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Callahan Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 3.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 31,434 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying 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 made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,955,353 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $6,656,078,000 after purchasing an additional 175,035 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $3,752,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,736,667 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $3,599,867,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,938,536 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,988,422,000 after purchasing an additional 1,683,233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,658,132 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,894,673,000 after purchasing an additional 602,445 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Stock Down 2.2%

CRM traded down $5.74 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $258.23. 7,004,264 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,540,561. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $230.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $272.09 and a 200 day moving average of $289.24. The firm has a market cap of $246.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 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.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on CRM shares. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $404.00 target price (up previously from $393.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. 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. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $348.16.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.69, for a total value of $611,302.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,862,457 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,222,910,942.33. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 405 shares of the 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 $106,251.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 9,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,605,922.55. This represents a 3.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 35,284 shares of company stock worth $9,444,537. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

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.