Sierra Capital LLC Increases Stock Position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Sierra Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 52.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,639 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 1,249 shares during the period. Sierra Capital LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $977,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $3,599,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $1,422,979,000 after acquiring an additional 3,841,521 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 30,456.9% in the 1st 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 period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 42.5% in 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 period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Salesforce by 18.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $3,752,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,736,667 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on CRM shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $367.00 to $350.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $349.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 41,422 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,219,490. This trade represents a 13.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 1,142 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total transaction of $299,603.70. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 136,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $35,895,776.40. This trade represents a 0.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,034 shares of company stock worth $8,833,235 over the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.9%

Salesforce stock traded down $2.55 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $271.10. The company had a trading volume of 6,371,001 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,540,673. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $230.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $272.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $290.51. The stock has a market cap of $259.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.36.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.44 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be given a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.98%.

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.