Praxis Investment Management Inc. Grows Holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Praxis Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 13.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,240 shares of the CRM provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,200 shares during the quarter. Praxis Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $7,042,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,599,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its position 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 worth $1,422,979,000 after buying an additional 3,841,521 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position 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 worth $1,020,194,000 after buying an additional 3,789,147 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,173,564,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Salesforce by 42.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,791,015 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,604,770,000 after buying an additional 2,325,156 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM stock traded up $1.29 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $260.79. The stock had a trading volume of 12,802,546 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,490,099. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $268.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $297.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market cap of $249.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.38. Salesforce Inc. has a 52-week low of $230.00 and a 52-week high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.44 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be issued a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total transaction of $1,975,615.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 41,422 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,219,490. The trade was a 13.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 6,959 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total transaction of $1,762,784.29. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,141,957.90. This trade represents a 16.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,111 shares of company stock valued at $9,299,283 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Guggenheim raised shares of Salesforce from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.