Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Increases Position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 10.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 228,500 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 21,049 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $61,320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,035 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $346,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Seven Mile Advisory raised its position in Salesforce by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 1,762 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $589,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 3,165 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $849,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. increased its position in Salesforce by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 2,571 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $654,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC now owns 834 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $279,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider directly owned 41,422 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,219,490. The trade was a 13.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,525 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.66, for a total transaction of $386,831.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 12,211 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,097,442.26. This trade represents a 11.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 35,284 shares of company stock worth $9,444,537. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of NYSE:CRM traded down $5.74 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $258.23. 7,004,264 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,547,931. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $246.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.36. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $272.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $288.86. Salesforce Inc. has a 1 year low of $230.00 and a 1 year 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%. The firm's revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.44 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th were paid a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Salesforce's payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on CRM. UBS Group set a $404.00 target price on Salesforce and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Northland Securities decreased their price target on Salesforce from $423.00 to $396.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Salesforce from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Stephens decreased their price target on Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $348.16.

About Salesforce

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.