NS Partners Ltd lifted its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 1.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 116,755 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 1,878 shares during the period. Salesforce makes up approximately 1.4% of NS Partners Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. NS Partners Ltd's holdings in Salesforce were worth $31,332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $8,582,000 after buying an additional 3,102 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $611,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. raised its stake in Salesforce by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 4,551 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,522,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Salesforce by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 60,722 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $20,302,000 after acquiring an additional 1,715 shares in the last quarter. Finally, F M Investments LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 259.9% during the 4th quarter. F M Investments LLC now owns 23,886 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $7,986,000 after acquiring an additional 17,250 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of research firms have commented on CRM. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Salesforce from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 30th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $335.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Guggenheim raised shares of Salesforce from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $348.16.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on CRM
Salesforce Price Performance
Shares of CRM opened at $240.63 on Friday. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $230.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The business's fifty day moving average is $263.97 and its 200 day moving average is $280.10. 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 market cap of $230.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.37.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.74 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.44 EPS. The business's revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Salesforce Cuts Dividend
The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.98%.
Insider Transactions at Salesforce
In other news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total transaction of $1,975,615.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.67, for a total value of $584,257.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,955,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,104,501,823.22. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,479 shares of company stock valued at $12,457,591 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.
About Salesforce
(
Free Report)
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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