Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Increases Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 91.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,692 shares of the CRM provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,760 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $991,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,955,353 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $6,656,078,000 after buying an additional 175,035 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,453,872 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $4,163,703,000 after buying an additional 177,321 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 18.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $3,752,830,000 after buying an additional 1,736,667 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,599,867,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,938,536 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,988,422,000 after buying an additional 1,683,233 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. Northland Securities lowered 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. DA Davidson reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Salesforce from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Guggenheim raised Salesforce from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $346.34.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock traded down $8.66 on Friday, hitting $258.25. 7,647,008 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,536,741. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $246.89 billion, a PE ratio of 42.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $227.77 and a one year high of $369.00. The firm's 50 day moving average is $268.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $299.72.

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

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be paid a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,256 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total transaction of $318,157.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,248,954.06. This trade represents a 8.92% decrease in their position. The sale 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 Salesforce stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 36,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,141,957.90. This trade represents a 16.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 40,332 shares of company stock worth $11,024,802 in the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company 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.