Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) is Lynwood Price Capital Management LP's 5th Largest Position

Key Points

• Lynwood Price Capital Management LP increased its stake in Salesforce Inc. by 36.6%, holding 56,000 shares valued at $15 million, making it the fifth largest position in their portfolio.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed views on Salesforce, with price targets ranging from $255 to $404, and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Salesforce reported a 7.6% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year, with an EPS of $2.58, exceeding analyst expectations of $2.55.

Lynwood Price Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 36.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 56,000 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 15,000 shares during the quarter. Salesforce makes up about 8.6% of Lynwood Price Capital Management LP's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Lynwood Price Capital Management LP's holdings in Salesforce were worth $15,028,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 926.4% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,256,211 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,422,979,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841,521 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 30,456.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,801,588 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,020,194,000 after purchasing an additional 3,789,147 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 42.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,791,015 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,604,770,000 after purchasing an additional 2,325,156 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,752,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,736,667 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1,744.0% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,820,262 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $488,486,000 after purchasing an additional 1,721,550 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM stock traded down $7.48 on Friday, reaching $250.85. 7,643,247 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,567,701. The company has a market cap of $239.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.37. Salesforce Inc. has a 1 year low of $230.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $266.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $282.19. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.44 earnings per share. Equities research 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 was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were issued a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is 25.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. UBS Group set a $404.00 target price on shares of Salesforce and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $430.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $348.16.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.77, for a total value of $597,982.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,165,738,224.67. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 39,729 shares of company stock worth $10,763,881. 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.