Swiss National Bank Trims Stock Position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Swiss National Bank lessened its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 0.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,699,077 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 1,600 shares during the period. Salesforce accounts for approximately 0.5% of Swiss National Bank's portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.28% of Salesforce worth $724,324,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 450.0% in the first quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 314.8% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 112 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, UBS Group set a $404.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. 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, Salesforce has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $348.16.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM opened at $240.63 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $263.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $280.10. The firm 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $230.00 and a twelve month 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 quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion during 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%. The business's revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.44 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $259.67, for a total transaction of $584,257.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,955,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,104,501,823.22. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The sale 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 the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 46,479 shares of company stock valued at $12,457,591. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

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