Metis Global Partners LLC Purchases 6,607 Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Key Points

• Metis Global Partners LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce Inc. by 11.3%, acquiring an additional 6,607 shares, bringing its total to 64,955 shares worth approximately $17.4 million.
• Insiders, including CEO Marc Benioff and Srinivas Tallapragada, have recently sold shares, indicating a decrease in their positions by 0.02% and 13.92%, respectively.
• Salesforce's stock has a market capitalization of $257.27 billion and is currently trading with a target average price of $348.16 according to analysts, reflecting a consensus of 27 buy ratings and 3 sell ratings.

Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 11.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 64,955 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,607 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $17,431,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Nemes Rush Group LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 37,021 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $9,935,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 23.0% during the 1st quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 6.6% in the first quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 301,608 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $80,940,000 after buying an additional 18,642 shares during the period. Semus Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 3.7% during the first quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,857 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $498,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keyvantage Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the first quarter worth $216,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total value of $1,975,615.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,219,490. The trade was a 13.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.69, for a total transaction of $611,302.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,862,457 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,222,910,942.33. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,479 shares of company stock worth $9,091,796 in the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CRM. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $430.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group set a $404.00 price objective on Salesforce and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $275.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $348.16.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $269.11 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $268.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $283.98. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $230.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The company has a market capitalization of $257.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.36. 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion during 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%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.44 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share 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 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.98%.

Salesforce Company 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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