Baker Chad R Has $4.70 Million Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Baker Chad R raised its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 99.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,525 shares of the CRM provider's stock after acquiring an additional 8,735 shares during the period. Baker Chad R's holdings in Salesforce were worth $4,703,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $3,599,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its holdings in Salesforce by 926.4% in 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 in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 30,456.9% in 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. bought a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,173,564,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 42.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,791,015 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,604,770,000 after acquiring an additional 2,325,156 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Northland Securities dropped their target price on Salesforce from $423.00 to $396.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. 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 research note on Thursday, May 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $346.34.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Brian Millham sold 3,937 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total transaction of $1,120,391.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 5,518 shares in the company, valued at $1,570,312.44. This represents a 41.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,909 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total value of $543,263.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,310 shares in the company, valued at $3,218,599.80. This trade represents a 14.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 40,332 shares of company stock valued at $11,024,802. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Trading Down 3.2%

CRM stock traded down $8.66 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $258.25. 7,647,008 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,545,951. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $227.77 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The stock's fifty day moving average is $267.80 and its 200-day moving average is $300.72. The company has a market cap of $246.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The business 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 posted $2.44 earnings per share. Salesforce's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.