New England Research & Management Inc. Invests $330,000 in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

New England Research & Management Inc. acquired a new position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 1,230 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $330,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,955,353 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $6,656,078,000 after buying an additional 175,035 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,453,872 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $4,163,703,000 after buying an additional 177,321 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 18.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $3,752,830,000 after buying an additional 1,736,667 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $3,599,867,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,938,536 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,988,422,000 after buying an additional 1,683,233 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CRM shares. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Salesforce from $367.00 to $350.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Salesforce from $330.00 to $300.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Westpark Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $346.34.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 3,273 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total value of $931,430.34. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 125,146 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,614,048.68. This represents a 2.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,909 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total value of $543,263.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,218,599.80. This represents a 14.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 40,332 shares of company stock worth $11,024,802. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM traded down $8.66 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $258.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,647,008 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,536,741. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $227.77 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The company's 50-day moving average is $268.09 and its 200-day moving average is $299.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market cap of $246.89 billion, a PE ratio of 42.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.44 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be paid a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date is 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.