Choreo LLC Raises Holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Choreo LLC grew its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 2.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,513 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 1,177 shares during the quarter. Choreo LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $12,751,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Seven Mile Advisory increased its stake in Salesforce by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 1,762 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $589,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 3,165 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $849,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in Salesforce by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 572 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $154,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Clarity Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Clarity Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,760 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $472,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 812 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CRM. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $320.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Guggenheim raised shares of Salesforce from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Salesforce from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $348.16.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:CRM traded up $1.82 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $264.10. The company had a trading volume of 1,069,751 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,543,496. Salesforce Inc. has a one year low of $230.00 and a one year high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company has a market capitalization of $252.48 billion, a PE ratio of 41.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $270.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $285.85.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.44 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.92, for a total transaction of $587,070.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,107,967,105.32. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 405 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total value of $106,251.75. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 9,933 shares in the company, valued at $2,605,922.55. This trade represents a 3.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 36,069 shares of company stock worth $9,698,893 in the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is 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.

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