2,302 Shares in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Bought by Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc

Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc acquired a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 2,302 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $618,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Greenfield Savings Bank lifted its position in Salesforce by 17.1% in the first quarter. Greenfield Savings Bank now owns 1,633 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $438,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. TrueWealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the first quarter worth $459,000. Apella Capital LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 5,571 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,477,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Salesforce by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,310 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $4,914,000 after buying an additional 1,833 shares during the period. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc grew its holdings in Salesforce by 1,610.2% in the 1st quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 1,009 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $271,000 after acquiring an additional 950 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 2.3%

NYSE:CRM traded up $6.24 on Friday, reaching $273.38. 4,394,344 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,599,958. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market capitalization of $261.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.95, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $227.77 and a 12 month high of $369.00. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $266.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $302.92.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.44 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be paid a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.37, for a total value of $1,725,518.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,967,047.50. The trade was a 11.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,909 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total transaction of $543,263.22. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,310 shares in the company, valued at $3,218,599.80. This represents a 14.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 40,332 shares of company stock valued at $11,024,802 over the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Macquarie reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered Salesforce from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $420.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Two investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $346.34.

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.