Cohen Capital Management Inc. Sells 1,608 Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Cohen Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 6.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,853 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 1,608 shares during the period. Salesforce makes up about 1.1% of Cohen Capital Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Cohen Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $6,670,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 5.7% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 20,941 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $5,620,000 after buying an additional 1,120 shares in the last quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.1% in the first quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC now owns 7,246 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,945,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 26.1% in the first quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 3,246 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $871,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 45.1% in the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 40,795 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $10,948,000 after acquiring an additional 12,681 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 1st quarter worth $297,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 1,142 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total value of $299,603.70. Following the transaction, the insider owned 136,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,895,776.40. This represents a 0.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 1,269 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total transaction of $332,922.15. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,678 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,196,573.30. This trade represents a 2.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,284 shares of company stock valued at $9,444,537 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CRM. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $404.00 price objective (up from $393.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. UBS Group set a $404.00 price target on Salesforce and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Salesforce from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $348.16.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Salesforce stock traded up $1.38 on Monday, reaching $259.45. 6,529,578 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,259,348. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $272.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $288.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $248.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.36. Salesforce Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $230.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released 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 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 firm posted $2.44 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th were paid a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio 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.