Salesforce Inc. $CRM Stock Position Lifted by Itau Unibanco Holding S.A.

Key Points

• Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its stake in Salesforce Inc. by 123.4% the first quarter, acquiring a total of 12,169 shares valued at approximately $3.27 million.
• Various institutional investors, including Nuveen LLC and DZ BANK AG, significantly raised their stakes in Salesforce, with institutional ownership now at 80.43%.
• Salesforce's stock currently holds a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a target price of $340.54, as reported by analysts.

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 123.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,169 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,721 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,266,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,039,196,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its stake in Salesforce by 926.4% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,256,211 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,422,979,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841,521 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 30,456.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,801,588 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,020,194,000 after purchasing an additional 3,789,147 shares during the last quarter. Longview Partners Guernsey LTD acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 1st quarter valued at $467,944,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1,744.0% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,820,262 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $488,486,000 after buying an additional 1,721,550 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $260.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Stephens lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 30th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Northland Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $423.00 to $396.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $340.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.02, for a total transaction of $578,295.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,061,511,978.42. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 57,077 shares of company stock worth $14,642,478. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $249.91 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $238.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.37. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $257.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $270.63. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $226.48 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.44 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

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

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