Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Sold by Cullen Investment Group LTD.

Cullen Investment Group LTD. reduced its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 11.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,054 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 1,964 shares during the period. Cullen Investment Group LTD.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $4,040,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 85.1% in the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $137,500.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,711 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,220,525. The trade was a 4.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 6,959 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total value of $1,762,784.29. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 36,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,141,957.90. This represents a 16.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 46,553 shares of company stock worth $12,897,323. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on CRM. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $370.00 price objective (down from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Stephens decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $342.21.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE:CRM traded down $1.89 on Friday, reaching $265.03. 12,373,506 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,790,645. The firm has a market cap of $254.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $267.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $305.28. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $216.06 and a 52 week high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.44 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a $0.42 dividend. This is a positive change from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.