Cetera Investment Advisers Boosts Stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 11.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 350,961 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 35,768 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in Salesforce were worth $94,184,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 0.9% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $3,752,830,000 after buying an additional 1,736,667 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,599,867,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased 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 valued at $2,988,422,000 after buying an additional 1,683,233 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,658,132 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,894,673,000 after purchasing an additional 602,445 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on CRM. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $335.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $320.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Three 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $348.16.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.56, for a total value of $599,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,175,148,365.76. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 33,479 shares of company stock worth $9,091,796. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock traded up $1.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $269.11. 4,013,320 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,704,325. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $268.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $284.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $257.27 billion, a PE ratio of 42.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.36. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%. The firm's revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.44 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were given 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 dividend yield of 0.62%. Salesforce's payout ratio is 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.