Calton & Associates Inc. Purchases New Holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Calton & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 22,529 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,046,000. Salesforce comprises about 0.7% of Calton & Associates Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.9% in 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 buying an additional 175,035 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,752,830,000 after buying an additional 1,736,667 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $3,599,867,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,938,536 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,988,422,000 after buying an additional 1,683,233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 7.5% in 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 valued at $2,894,673,000 after buying an additional 602,445 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CRM. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Stephens cut their target price on Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Mizuho cut their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $335.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Salesforce from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $348.16.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE:CRM traded up $2.52 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $262.40. 6,376,432 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,563,887. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $270.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $286.17. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $230.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The firm has a market cap of $250.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.06, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.36.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business 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 business posted $2.44 earnings per share. Salesforce's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, insider Miguel Milano sold 405 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 $2,605,922.55. This represents a 3.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.02, for a total transaction of $578,295.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,061,511,978.42. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,819 shares of company stock valued at $9,111,823 over the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.