Natixis Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 14.7% during Q1, now owning 1,122,399 shares valued at approximately $301.21 million, making it the firm's 27th largest position.
• Insiders, including CEO Marc Benioff, have recently sold shares of Salesforce, with significant sales totaling $10.3 million over the last 90 days, indicating possible shifts in investor confidence.
• Salesforce reported a quarterly EPS of $2.58, exceeding estimates, and its quarterly revenue was up 7.6% year-over-year, totaling $9.83 billion.

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 14.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,122,399 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 144,219 shares during the quarter. Salesforce accounts for about 0.6% of Natixis Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.12% of Salesforce worth $301,207,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings 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 during the period. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings 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 during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the subject of several research reports. DA Davidson reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Northland Securities dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $423.00 to $396.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $335.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $430.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, July 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $348.16.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.69, for a total transaction of $611,302.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,862,457 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,222,910,942.33. 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 through the SEC website. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total transaction of $1,975,615.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 41,422 shares in the company, valued at $12,219,490. This represents a 13.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 37,979 shares of company stock valued at $10,303,399. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock traded down $2.65 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $264.74. 3,913,122 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,561,630. Salesforce Inc. has a 1 year low of $230.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The company has a market capitalization of $253.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.36. The business has a fifty day moving average of $266.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $283.11. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.44 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

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