Cwm LLC Increases Position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Cwm LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 14.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 91,401 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 11,493 shares during the period. Cwm LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $24,528,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3.5% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Seven Mile Advisory boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 1,762 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $589,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Liberty One Investment Management LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Clarity Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Clarity Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,760 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.6% during the first quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 2,571 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $654,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $404.00 price target (up from $393.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Stephens lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $430.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $348.16.

Salesforce Stock Down 2.2%

Salesforce stock opened at $258.23 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $246.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.41, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.36. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $272.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $288.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The firm's revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.44 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.69, for a total value of $611,302.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,862,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,222,910,942.33. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 1,142 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total transaction of $299,603.70. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 136,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,895,776.40. This represents a 0.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 over the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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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