Trajan Wealth LLC Buys 1,561 Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Key Points

• Trajan Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce Inc. by 2.8% after purchasing 1,561 shares, bringing its total ownership to 57,459 shares worth approximately $15.42 million.
• Several hedge funds, including AGF Management Ltd. and Public Sector Pension Investment Board, significantly boosted their shares in Salesforce during the first quarter, reflecting a growing institutional interest as they now own 80.43% of the company's stock.
• Salesforce's stock is currently rated as a "Moderate Buy" with a consensus target price of $348.16, while company insiders have sold a total of 48,729 shares in the last quarter.

Trajan Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 2.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 57,459 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,561 shares during the quarter. Trajan Wealth LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $15,420,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 87,913,628 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $23,592,501,000 after acquiring an additional 1,383,942 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 1,736,667 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 5.1% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 9,014,148 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,419,037,000 after acquiring an additional 437,435 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 1,683,233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 7.5% during the fourth 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 valued at $2,894,673,000 after acquiring an additional 602,445 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group set a $404.00 target price on Salesforce and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Salesforce from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Salesforce from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $320.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $348.16.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM traded down $1.28 on Tuesday, hitting $231.40. 13,176,549 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,272,324. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $262.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $277.72. The firm has a market cap of $221.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.37. Salesforce Inc. has a one year low of $226.48 and a one year 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.44 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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 issued a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is 25.98%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.45, for a total transaction of $532,012.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,816,490,962.95. This 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 50,979 shares of company stock worth $13,530,369. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Salesforce

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.