Oak Thistle LLC Invests $1.78 Million in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 6,629 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,779,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Heartland Bank & Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 117.2% in the first quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co now owns 5,981 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,605,000 after acquiring an additional 3,227 shares in the last quarter. Elwood Capital Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $1,337,000. Strategic Blueprint LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 13.5% in the first quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 23,828 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $6,394,000 after acquiring an additional 2,837 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 6.0% in the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 219,808 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $58,988,000 after acquiring an additional 12,528 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Libra Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the first quarter worth about $328,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM traded up $1.41 during trading on Friday, hitting $269.11. The stock had a trading volume of 4,013,320 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,704,325. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $268.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $284.27. The firm has a market cap of $257.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.36. Salesforce Inc. has a one year low of $230.00 and a one year high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released 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 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 quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.44 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were issued a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.69, for a total value of $611,302.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,862,457 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,222,910,942.33. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of Salesforce 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 41,422 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,219,490. This represents a 13.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,479 shares of company stock valued at $9,091,796 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CRM shares. Northland Securities lowered their price target on Salesforce from $423.00 to $396.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Salesforce from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $404.00 price target (up from $393.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Salesforce from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Three investment 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $348.16.

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.