Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Purchased by Financial Counselors Inc.

Financial Counselors Inc. raised its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 2.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 175,631 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,869 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $47,132,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 9.5% during the 1st quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 32,180 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $8,636,000 after buying an additional 2,796 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 11.1% during the first quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 873 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $234,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Salesforce by 11.0% during the 1st quarter. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,635 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $707,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Salesforce by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,589,450 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $426,545,000 after purchasing an additional 95,957 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 15.7% in the 1st quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 69,046 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $18,529,000 after purchasing an additional 9,395 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Stephens lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $325.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $349.08.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.9%

CRM stock traded down $2.41 during trading on Monday, reaching $269.74. The stock had a trading volume of 6,249,121 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,542,618. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $272.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $291.15. The company has a market capitalization of $257.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.21, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.36. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $230.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00.

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

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.91, for a total value of $614,047.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,862,457 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,237,383,139.87. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 1,269 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total transaction of $332,922.15. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,678 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,196,573.30. This represents a 2.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 30,784 shares of company stock valued at $8,223,890. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

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.