Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Acquired by NBC Securities Inc.

NBC Securities Inc. raised its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 114,263.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,580 shares of the CRM provider's stock after acquiring an additional 12,569 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,376,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $3,599,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its position in Salesforce by 926.4% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,256,211 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,422,979,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841,521 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 30,456.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,801,588 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,020,194,000 after acquiring an additional 3,789,147 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $1,173,564,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 42.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,791,015 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,604,770,000 after acquiring an additional 2,325,156 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM traded down $1.62 on Wednesday, reaching $262.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,330,549 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,068,137. The stock has a market capitalization of $251.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.23, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The stock's 50-day moving average is $266.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $303.58. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $227.77 and a 52-week high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.44 earnings per share. Salesforce's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. This is a boost from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Salesforce's payout ratio is presently 25.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.37, for a total transaction of $1,725,518.77. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,967,047.50. This represents a 11.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was 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 now directly owns 41,422 shares in the company, valued at $12,219,490. This trade represents a 13.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 40,332 shares of company stock worth $11,024,802. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on CRM. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $404.00 price objective (up from $393.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $346.34.

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.