Liberty Wealth Management LLC Has $77.12 Million Position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Key Points

• Liberty Wealth Management LLC significantly boosted its stake in Salesforce by 15,681%, acquiring a total of 287,372 shares valued at approximately $77 million.
• Salesforce reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $2.58, exceeding estimates, with revenue of $9.83 billion, reflecting a 7.6% increase year-over-year.
• CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock recently, reducing his holdings slightly, while institutional investors currently own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Liberty Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 15,681.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 287,372 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 285,551 shares during the period. Salesforce accounts for approximately 1.4% of Liberty Wealth Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Liberty Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $77,119,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 450.0% during the first quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 314.8% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 112 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Abound Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE:CRM traded up $1.38 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $248.87. The stock had a trading volume of 5,815,021 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,064,061. The stock has a market capitalization of $237.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $265.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $280.90. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $230.00 and a 52 week 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.

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. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. Salesforce's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.44 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were paid a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CRM. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $430.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Stephens cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Salesforce from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $335.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $348.16.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.67, for a total transaction of $584,257.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,955,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,104,501,823.22. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 41,422 shares in the company, valued at $12,219,490. This represents a 13.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 44,229 shares of company stock worth $11,898,691. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce 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.