Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Purchased by Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc.

Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. raised its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 63.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 94,000 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 36,600 shares during the quarter. Salesforce makes up approximately 1.0% of Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $25,226,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,955,353 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $6,656,078,000 after buying an additional 175,035 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,453,872 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $4,163,703,000 after purchasing an additional 177,321 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 18.3% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,599,867,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,938,536 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,988,422,000 after purchasing an additional 1,683,233 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Trading Up 3.0%

Shares of CRM stock opened at $271.43 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $269.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $295.94. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $230.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The company has a market capitalization of $259.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.48, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced 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 in the previous year, the company posted $2.44 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, insider R David Schmaier sold 6,959 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total transaction of $1,762,784.29. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,141,957.90. The trade was a 16.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,256 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total value of $318,157.36. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,826 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,248,954.06. The trade was a 8.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 26,284 shares of company stock worth $6,996,762 in the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group set a $404.00 price target on Salesforce and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut Salesforce from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $420.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Westpark Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Barclays cut their price target on Salesforce from $425.00 to $347.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $349.08.

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.

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