Forbes J M & Co. LLP Purchases 1,222 Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Forbes J M & Co. LLP boosted its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 3.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,941 shares of the CRM provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,222 shares during the quarter. Forbes J M & Co. LLP's holdings in Salesforce were worth $10,182,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 450.0% during the first quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 314.8% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 112 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $430.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $275.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $347.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Three investment 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $348.16.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.93, for a total value of $591,592.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at $3,131,909,363.03. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 405 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 $106,251.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,605,922.55. This represents a 3.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 31,229 shares of company stock valued at $8,492,036. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $263.80 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company has a market capitalization of $252.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.36. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $270.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $285.85. Salesforce Inc. has a one year low of $230.00 and a one year high of $369.00.

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

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were paid a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.

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