Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 14,563 Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Key Points

• Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce Inc. by 46.4%, owning 45,954 shares worth approximately $12.3 million at the end of the last quarter.
• The current average rating for Salesforce stock is "Moderate Buy" with a consensus price target of $348.16, despite some analysts lowering their price targets.
• Salesforce reported $2.58 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, while revenue increased 7.6% year-over-year.

Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 46.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,954 shares of the CRM provider's stock after acquiring an additional 14,563 shares during the period. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $12,332,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $8,582,000 after purchasing an additional 3,102 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 12.6% in 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. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $512,000. Shelton Capital Management increased its position in Salesforce by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. Shelton Capital Management now owns 44,574 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $14,902,000 after acquiring an additional 7,598 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 28.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 895,128 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $299,279,000 after buying an additional 199,938 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CRM. Westpark Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $347.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $348.16.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.67, for a total value of $584,257.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,955,566 shares in the company, valued at $3,104,501,823.22. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total transaction of $1,975,615.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,422 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,219,490. This represents a 13.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 46,479 shares of company stock valued at $12,457,591 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 3.4%

Shares of CRM traded down $8.54 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $240.63. 9,997,676 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,834,085. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $263.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $280.10. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $230.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The company has a market cap of $230.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.66, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.37.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.44 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

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

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.