World Investment Advisors Has $18.02 Million Position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

World Investment Advisors grew its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 7.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 67,137 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,730 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors' holdings in Salesforce were worth $18,017,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $8,582,000 after acquiring an additional 3,102 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $611,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 70.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,791 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $933,000 after buying an additional 1,153 shares during the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $237,000. Finally, Welch & Forbes LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC now owns 9,395 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $3,141,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered shares of Salesforce from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and cut their target price for the company from $420.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $404.00 target price (up previously from $393.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, UBS Group set a $404.00 target price on shares of Salesforce and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $349.08.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM stock traded up $2.37 during trading on Friday, hitting $271.58. The stock had a trading volume of 5,031,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,543,799. The company's 50 day moving average price is $272.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $291.78. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $230.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The stock has a market cap of $259.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.44 EPS. The company's revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.98%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 1,142 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total transaction of $299,603.70. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 136,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,895,776.40. The trade was a 0.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider owned 41,422 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,219,490. This represents a 13.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 28,534 shares of company stock valued at $7,609,842. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.