Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Lowers Position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. lessened its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 33.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,678 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 2,878 shares during the period. Lecap Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,524,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Macquarie reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Barclays reduced their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $347.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $349.08.

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock traded up $1.98 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $272.72. The company had a trading volume of 21,736,713 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,553,599. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $269.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $295.19. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $230.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company has a market capitalization of $260.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.38.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.44 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.416 per share. 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 (DPR) is 25.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, insider Miguel Milano sold 405 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total transaction of $106,251.75. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,605,922.55. The trade was a 3.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 1,269 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 value of $332,922.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 42,678 shares in the company, valued at $11,196,573.30. This trade represents a 2.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 26,284 shares of company stock worth $6,996,762 in the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.