Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Raises Position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 5.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 348,981 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 18,453 shares during the quarter. Salesforce accounts for approximately 1.0% of Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd's holdings in Salesforce were worth $93,653,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 16.1% in the 1st quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 1,262 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $339,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.4% in the first quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 58,835 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $15,789,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 87.5% in the first quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC now owns 1,650 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 770 shares during the last quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC now owns 48,164 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $12,925,000 after purchasing an additional 1,678 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JNBA Financial Advisors increased its holdings in Salesforce by 145.4% during the 1st quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors now owns 4,327 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,161,000 after purchasing an additional 2,564 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. 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 report on Thursday, May 29th. Mizuho cut their target price 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. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $370.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $349.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, Director Oscar Munoz purchased 3,882 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $257.28 per share, for a total transaction of $998,760.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 11,843 shares in the company, valued at $3,046,967.04. This represents a 48.76% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 $12,219,490. This trade represents a 13.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 26,284 shares of company stock worth $6,996,762. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.2%

CRM stock opened at $272.85 on Tuesday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $271.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $293.23. The company has a market capitalization of $260.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.38. 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 released its 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 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 for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.44 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be issued a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's payout ratio is 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.

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