Picton Mahoney Asset Management Purchases 948 Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Key Points

• Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE: CRM) by 2.3%, acquiring an additional 948 shares, bringing its total holdings to 41,528 shares valued at approximately $11.1 million.
• Various institutional investors have been active, with 80.43% of Salesforce's stock now owned by institutions, including significant increases from firms like Capital A Wealth Management LLC by 450% in the first quarter.
• Salesforce's CEO, Marc Benioff, sold 2,250 shares worth over $606,000, but continues to hold a substantial position in the company, valued at approximately $3.2 billion.

Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 2.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,528 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 948 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management's holdings in Salesforce were worth $11,145,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CRM. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 450.0% during the first quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 314.8% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 112 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abound Financial LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on CRM shares. UBS Group set a $404.00 price target on shares of Salesforce and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $404.00 target price (up previously from $393.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Barclays lowered their price target on Salesforce from $425.00 to $347.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Northland Securities decreased their target price on Salesforce from $423.00 to $396.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $348.16.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider owned 41,422 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,219,490. The trade was a 13.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.67, for a total value of $584,257.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,955,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,104,501,823.22. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,729 shares of company stock worth $10,763,881 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 2.9%

Salesforce stock traded down $7.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $250.89. The stock had a trading volume of 4,620,914 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,079,267. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $266.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $282.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $239.85 billion, a PE ratio of 39.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.36. Salesforce Inc. has a 12 month low of $230.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick 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 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 analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.44 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were given a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Salesforce's payout ratio is 25.98%.

Salesforce 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.