L & S Advisors Inc Sells 6,413 Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Key Points

• L & S Advisors Inc reduced its stake in Salesforce Inc. by 25.7% during the first quarter, now holding shares valued at approximately $4.97 million.
• Salesforce's CEO, Marc Benioff, sold 2,250 shares for around $598,000, indicating a slight decrease in his ownership position.
• The stock has experienced a decline of 2.9% and currently has a market capitalization of $239.81 billion.

L & S Advisors Inc lessened its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 25.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,522 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 6,413 shares during the quarter. L & S Advisors Inc's holdings in Salesforce were worth $4,971,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Notis McConarty Edward increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 71.6% during the 1st quarter. Notis McConarty Edward now owns 3,844 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,032,000 after purchasing an additional 1,604 shares during the last quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt raised its holdings in Salesforce by 121.9% during the 1st quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt now owns 355,000 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $95,222,000 after buying an additional 195,000 shares during the period. Delaney Dennis R raised its holdings in Salesforce by 66.1% during the 1st quarter. Delaney Dennis R now owns 5,694 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,528,000 after buying an additional 2,266 shares during the period. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 34.5% during the 1st quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 4,948 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,328,000 after buying an additional 1,270 shares during the period. Finally, Mathes Company Inc. raised its holdings in Salesforce by 396.9% during the 1st quarter. Mathes Company Inc. now owns 12,298 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,300,000 after buying an additional 9,823 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM traded down $7.48 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $250.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,643,247 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,950,044. Salesforce Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $230.00 and a fifty-two 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $239.81 billion, a PE ratio of 39.26, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $266.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $281.65.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.44 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were paid a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.77, for a total value of $597,982.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,165,738,224.67. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last three months, insiders sold 39,729 shares of company stock worth $10,763,881. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Erste Group Bank lowered Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target on Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $348.16.

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.