Genus Capital Management Inc. Invests $5.33 Million in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Genus Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 19,872 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,333,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Joseph Group Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management now owns 10,073 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,703,000 after buying an additional 1,268 shares during the period. Processus Wealth & Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Processus Wealth & Capital Management LLC now owns 9,325 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,502,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Burford Brothers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Burford Brothers Inc. now owns 3,670 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $985,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the period. CFC Planning Co LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 9.5% during the 1st quarter. CFC Planning Co LLC now owns 9,427 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,530,000 after buying an additional 815 shares during the period. Finally, Bosman Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 1st quarter valued at $665,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Salesforce from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Thursday. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. UBS Group set a $404.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Three 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $348.16.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, insider R David Schmaier sold 6,959 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 36,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,141,957.90. The trade was a 16.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,525 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.66, for a total transaction of $386,831.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 12,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,097,442.26. This trade represents a 11.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,284 shares of company stock valued at $9,444,537 in the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE CRM traded down $5.74 on Friday, reaching $258.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,004,264 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,540,561. The firm has a market cap of $246.87 billion, a PE ratio of 40.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.36. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $272.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $289.84. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $230.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.44 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

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

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.