Joseph Group Capital Management Buys 1,268 Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Joseph Group Capital Management increased its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 14.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,073 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares during the period. Joseph Group Capital Management's holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,703,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its position in Salesforce by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,035 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $346,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Seven Mile Advisory raised its position in Salesforce by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 1,762 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $589,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Liberty One Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 3,165 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $849,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Kozak & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 2,571 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $654,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, Meridian Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC now owns 834 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $279,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Westpark Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut shares of Salesforce from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $420.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Three 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $348.68.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $263.95 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company's 50-day moving average price is $272.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $289.84. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $230.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The company has a market cap of $252.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.36.

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 company had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.44 earnings per share. Salesforce's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were given a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.69, for a total value of $611,302.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,862,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,222,910,942.33. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 405 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total transaction of $106,251.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 9,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,605,922.55. This trade represents a 3.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 35,284 shares of company stock valued at $9,444,537. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.

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