Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lessened its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 46.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,543 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 20,919 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd's holdings in Salesforce were worth $6,583,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 450.0% in the first quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 314.8% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 112 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several brokerages recently weighed in on CRM. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Salesforce from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $404.00 price objective (up previously from $393.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, UBS Group set a $404.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Three equities research 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 company. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $348.16.
View Our Latest Analysis on Salesforce
Salesforce Stock Performance
CRM traded down $7.48 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $250.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,542,650 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,092,879. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $230.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The company's 50-day moving average is $266.48 and its 200-day moving average is $282.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market cap of $239.81 billion, a PE ratio of 39.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.36.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.44 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.
Salesforce Cuts Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were issued a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is 25.98%.
Insider Activity
In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.77, for a total transaction of $597,982.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,165,738,224.67. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 39,729 shares of company stock worth $10,763,881. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.
Salesforce Profile
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Free Report)
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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