Clarius Group LLC Acquires 1,540 Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Clarius Group LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 15.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,451 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 1,540 shares during the quarter. Clarius Group LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,073,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CRM. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth approximately $236,000. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $8,582,000 after acquiring an additional 3,102 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth approximately $104,173,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $611,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth approximately $204,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock traded down $3.78 on Thursday, reaching $258.98. The stock had a trading volume of 7,623,720 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,535,521. The stock has a market cap of $247.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.38. Salesforce Inc. has a 1 year low of $230.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $268.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $298.72.

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

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be given a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Macquarie reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. 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. Finally, UBS Group set a $404.00 price objective on Salesforce and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $349.08.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,909 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total transaction of $543,263.22. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,218,599.80. The trade was a 14.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 now owns 41,422 shares in the company, valued at $12,219,490. This trade represents 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 34,111 shares of company stock worth $9,299,283. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Company 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.