China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. Has $5.44 Million Holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lowered its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 13.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,269 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 3,214 shares during the quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $5,439,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on CRM. Citigroup cut their price objective on Salesforce from $320.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Macquarie reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $404.00 price objective (up previously from $393.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $349.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 value of $386,831.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were 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 trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,034 shares of company stock worth $8,833,235 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE:CRM traded down $2.55 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $271.10. 6,371,001 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,540,672. The company's 50 day moving average is $272.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $290.38. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $230.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. 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 $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.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.44 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business 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 $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.98%.

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.