Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Has $79.93 Million Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA lowered its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 5.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 296,436 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 17,524 shares during the period. Salesforce comprises 1.8% of Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA's portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA's holdings in Salesforce were worth $79,926,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,955,353 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $6,656,078,000 after buying an additional 175,035 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,453,872 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $4,163,703,000 after buying an additional 177,321 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew 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 worth $3,752,830,000 after buying an additional 1,736,667 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $3,599,867,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew 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 worth $2,988,422,000 after buying an additional 1,683,233 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM stock traded up $0.65 during trading on Thursday, hitting $266.56. 8,047,893 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,571,158. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $227.77 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $267.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $301.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $254.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS 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 0.62%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's payout ratio is 25.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 30th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Salesforce from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $420.00 to $275.00 in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $346.34.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.37, for a total transaction of $1,725,518.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,967,047.50. This represents a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,273 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total transaction of $931,430.34. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 125,146 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,614,048.68. This represents a 2.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 40,332 shares of company stock valued at $11,024,802. 3.20% of the stock is owned by 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.