J. L. Bainbridge & Co. Inc. Acquires 65,061 Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

J. L. Bainbridge & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 8,012.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 65,873 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 65,061 shares during the period. Salesforce makes up approximately 1.8% of J. L. Bainbridge & Co. Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. J. L. Bainbridge & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $17,678,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Westpark Capital restated a "buy" rating and issued a $320.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped 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. Macquarie restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $320.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Two equities research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $349.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Brian Millham sold 979 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.66, for a total value of $248,333.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,487 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,645,492.42. This represents a 13.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 6,959 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were 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 directly owns 36,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,141,957.90. This trade represents a 16.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 26,284 shares of company stock valued at $6,996,762 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE:CRM traded up $1.98 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $272.72. 21,736,713 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,529,239. The firm has a market capitalization of $260.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $270.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $294.25. 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 Inc. has a 12 month low of $230.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted 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 company had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.44 earnings per share. Salesforce's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.98%.

About Salesforce

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.