Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Has $22.39 Million Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 10.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 83,448 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,925 shares during the quarter. Salesforce makes up approximately 1.6% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC's holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $22,394,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 85.1% during the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Collier Financial acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider R David Schmaier sold 6,959 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total transaction of $1,762,784.29. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,141,957.90. This represents a 16.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,909 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total value of $543,263.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,218,599.80. This represents a 14.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 40,332 shares of company stock valued at $11,024,802 in the last three months. Insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE:CRM traded up $1.04 on Thursday, hitting $266.95. 3,562,243 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,567,333. The company has a market cap of $255.20 billion, a PE ratio of 43.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $227.77 and a 1 year high of $369.00. 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 50-day moving average price of $267.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $301.22.

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

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded Salesforce from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $420.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $325.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho decreased their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Salesforce from $430.00 to $400.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $346.34.

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.