Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Purchases 5,892 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 4.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 148,633 shares of the CRM provider's stock after acquiring an additional 5,892 shares during the quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $39,887,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Athena Investment Management bought a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $236,000. Jag Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 2,507.9% during the 4th quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 23,706 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $7,926,000 after buying an additional 22,797 shares during the last quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $2,861,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its stake in Salesforce by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 27,358 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $9,146,000 after buying an additional 723 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dash Acquisitions Inc. raised its stake in Salesforce by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. now owns 60,521 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $21,785,000 after buying an additional 1,525 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM traded down $4.09 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $261.28. 9,203,251 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,680,135. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $267.31 and a 200-day moving average of $304.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $227.77 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The stock has a market cap of $251.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.97, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.44 EPS. The business's revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a $0.42 dividend. This is an increase from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CRM shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Westpark Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Northland Securities decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $423.00 to $396.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, DA Davidson restated an "underperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $343.32.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.37, for a total value of $1,725,518.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,967,047.50. This trade represents a 11.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 705 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.44, for a total transaction of $197,005.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,323 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,605,219.12. The trade was a 7.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 40,332 shares of company stock valued at $11,024,802. Insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

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.