Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Position Boosted by Earned Wealth Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Earned Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce Inc. by 140.1% in the first quarter, owning 4,774 shares valued at approximately $1.28 million.
• Salesforce reported earnings of $2.58 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations, with revenue of $9.83 billion, reflecting a 7.6% year-over-year growth.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Salesforce stock, with a target price of $348.16, following various ratings changes from different financial institutions.

Earned Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 140.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,774 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,786 shares during the period. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,281,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $3,752,830,000 after buying an additional 1,736,667 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,938,536 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,988,422,000 after purchasing an additional 1,683,233 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,658,132 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,894,673,000 after purchasing an additional 602,445 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 8,598,989 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,874,900,000 after purchasing an additional 114,278 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 42.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,791,015 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,604,770,000 after purchasing an additional 2,325,156 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CRM shares. DA Davidson reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $347.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $404.00 price objective (up previously from $393.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $348.16.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.67, for a total transaction of $584,257.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,955,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,104,501,823.22. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total value of $1,975,615.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,422 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,219,490. The trade was a 13.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 39,729 shares of company stock valued at $10,763,881. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 2.9%

CRM opened at $250.85 on Friday. Salesforce Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $230.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. 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 fifty day moving average price is $266.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $281.92. The company has a market capitalization of $239.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.37.

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

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.

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