Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Buys 3,978 Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 4.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 86,859 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,978 shares during the quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $23,309,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,035 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $346,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Seven Mile Advisory raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 1,762 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $589,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. 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 valued at $849,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. First Command Advisory Services Inc. raised 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 valued at $154,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Clarity Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 2.3% in 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 period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.48, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total transaction of $1,975,615.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 41,422 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,219,490. The trade was a 13.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 33,819 shares of company stock worth $9,111,823. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CRM. Westpark Capital restated a "buy" rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $370.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Three research 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $348.16.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of CRM stock traded up $0.40 on Friday, hitting $260.28. The company had a trading volume of 2,074,404 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,538,687. The firm has a market cap of $248.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.36. The stock's 50-day moving average is $270.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $286.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $230.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%. The firm's revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.44 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were issued a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Salesforce's payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

About Salesforce

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.