Redwood Investment Management LLC Takes Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Redwood Investment Management LLC has acquired a new position in Salesforce Inc. by purchasing 5,256 shares valued at approximately $1.41 million.
• Salesforce announced a dividend of $0.416, equating to an annual yield of 0.7%, despite facing fluctuations in stock ratings from various analysts.
• Salesforce reported earnings per share (EPS) of $2.58 for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations while also showing a 7.6% year-over-year revenue growth of $9.83 billion.

Redwood Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,256 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,411,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 33.8% in the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 3,190 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $856,000 after purchasing an additional 805 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 4.0% in the first quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 2,085 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $560,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. FORA Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the first quarter valued at approximately $5,982,000. Longview Partners Guernsey LTD acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the first quarter valued at approximately $467,944,000. Finally, J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 10.0% in the first quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 197,840 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $53,092,000 after purchasing an additional 17,956 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.56, for a total value of $559,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,960,740,087.76. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 59,327 shares of company stock worth $15,201,738. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on CRM shares. Erste Group Bank lowered Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Mizuho decreased their price target on Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Barclays decreased their price target on Salesforce from $347.00 to $316.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Salesforce from $370.00 to $315.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $340.43.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE:CRM traded up $1.84 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $256.37. 7,354,032 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,238,982. 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's 50-day moving average is $257.43 and its 200-day moving average is $270.14. The stock has a market cap of $245.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.37. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $226.48 and a 1-year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 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 business's revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.44 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were issued a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is 25.98%.

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.