Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Acquired by Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.

Key Points

• Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its stake in Salesforce by 119.1%, acquiring additional shares worth approximately $6.3 million in the recent quarter.
• Salesforce reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $2.58, exceeding analyst estimates, with revenue up 7.6% year-over-year to $9.83 billion.
• The company has seen substantial investments from hedge funds, with institutional investors now owning 80.43% of Salesforce's stock.

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 119.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,452 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 12,746 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $6,294,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the first quarter worth $2,039,196,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its position in Salesforce by 926.4% in the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 3,841,521 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 30,456.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,801,588 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,020,194,000 after acquiring an additional 3,789,147 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Salesforce by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,752,830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,736,667 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Salesforce by 1,744.0% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,820,262 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $488,486,000 after acquiring an additional 1,721,550 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on CRM shares. Guggenheim raised shares of Salesforce from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. UBS Group set a $404.00 price target on shares of Salesforce and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $335.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $347.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.30, for a total transaction of $585,675.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,955,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,112,033,829.80. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold 46,532 shares of company stock worth $12,082,694 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM traded up $9.41 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $242.78. 12,936,592 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,984,759. 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 50-day moving average of $260.41 and a 200 day moving average of $275.84. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $226.48 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The company has a market cap of $232.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.37.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.44 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research 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 given 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 is presently 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.