Cottage Street Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Cottage Street Advisors LLC boosted its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 139.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,951 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,301 shares during the quarter. Cottage Street Advisors LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,060,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $3,599,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 926.4% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,256,211 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,422,979,000 after buying an additional 3,841,521 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 30,456.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,801,588 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,020,194,000 after buying an additional 3,789,147 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $1,173,564,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 42.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,791,015 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,604,770,000 after buying an additional 2,325,156 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total transaction of $1,975,615.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 41,422 shares in the company, valued at $12,219,490. The trade was a 13.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $137,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,711 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,220,525. The trade was a 4.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,992 shares of company stock valued at $6,704,198. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE CRM traded up $2.51 during trading on Monday, hitting $263.14. 9,275,001 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,501,258. The company has a market capitalization of $251.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $268.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $296.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $230.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.44 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be given a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on CRM. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Salesforce from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Salesforce from $367.00 to $350.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Northland Securities dropped their target price on Salesforce from $423.00 to $396.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned 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 stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $349.08.

Salesforce Company 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.