Silphium Asset Management Ltd Acquires 5,695 Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Silphium Asset Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 75.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,195 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,695 shares during the period. Salesforce makes up approximately 2.9% of Silphium Asset Management Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Silphium Asset Management Ltd's holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,541,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.48, for a total value of $613,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,862,457 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,232,282,283.36. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,525 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.66, for a total transaction of $386,831.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 12,211 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,097,442.26. This represents a 11.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 35,284 shares of company stock valued at $9,444,537. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 2.2%

NYSE CRM traded down $5.74 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $258.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,004,264 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,547,931. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $230.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $246.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.41, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $272.09 and a 200 day moving average of $288.86.

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, 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 company had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.74 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.44 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were paid 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 0.64%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is 25.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Salesforce from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Thursday. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $430.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $370.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $348.16.

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.