Sage Advisors LLC Makes New $359,000 Investment in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Sage Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,336 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $359,000. Salesforce accounts for approximately 0.3% of Sage Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $8,582,000 after purchasing an additional 3,102 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $611,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. Modera Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,900 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $8,659,000 after buying an additional 1,559 shares during the period. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd raised its position in Salesforce by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 30,726 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $10,310,000 after buying an additional 862 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.0%

CRM stock traded down $2.85 on Wednesday, hitting $269.06. 6,075,671 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,542,768. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $257.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.36. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $230.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The business's fifty day moving average is $271.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $293.08.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%. The firm's revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, research analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be given a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.98%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, insider Miguel Milano sold 405 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total value of $106,251.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 9,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,605,922.55. This represents a 3.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 261 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total value of $68,473.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 12,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,154,496.40. This trade represents a 2.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 28,534 shares of company stock valued at $7,609,842 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CRM. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Westpark Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target on Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $325.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Macquarie reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $349.08.

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.