Greenleaf Trust Acquires 1,327 Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Greenleaf Trust boosted its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 1.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 98,696 shares of the CRM provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,327 shares during the quarter. Salesforce accounts for 0.2% of Greenleaf Trust's holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Greenleaf Trust's holdings in Salesforce were worth $26,486,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Flossbach Von Storch SE lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 711,099 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $190,831,000 after buying an additional 18,656 shares in the last quarter. Silphium Asset Management Ltd increased its stake in Salesforce by 75.9% during the 1st quarter. Silphium Asset Management Ltd now owns 13,195 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,541,000 after purchasing an additional 5,695 shares in the last quarter. New Insight Wealth Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 5.1% in the first quarter. New Insight Wealth Advisors now owns 3,729 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,001,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. AlphaStar Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 776.9% during the first quarter. AlphaStar Capital Management LLC now owns 7,226 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,939,000 after buying an additional 6,402 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 1.1% in the first quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 80,903 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $21,711,000 after purchasing an additional 903 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $273.77 on Wednesday. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $272.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $290.51. The stock has a market cap of $261.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.36. Salesforce Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $230.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. The firm 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%. Salesforce's revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.44 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.48, for a total transaction of $613,080.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,862,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,232,282,283.36. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 1,142 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total value of $299,603.70. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 136,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,895,776.40. This represents a 0.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,034 shares of company stock valued at $8,833,235 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on CRM shares. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Barclays lowered their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $347.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Northland Securities decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $423.00 to $396.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $349.08.

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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