West Branch Capital LLC Has $1.58 Million Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

West Branch Capital LLC raised its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 39.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,871 shares of the CRM provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,648 shares during the quarter. West Branch Capital LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,576,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.7% during the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 4,057 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,089,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.5% during the first quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. now owns 4,783 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,284,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 6.3% during the first quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,114 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,641,000 after buying an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.8% during the first quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,830 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,101,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bensler LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the first quarter worth $3,169,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on CRM. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $300.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Mizuho decreased their price objective 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. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Two equities 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $346.34.

Salesforce Stock Down 3.2%

Shares of CRM traded down $8.66 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $258.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,647,008 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,536,741. The firm has a market cap of $246.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $227.77 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a 50 day moving average of $268.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $299.93.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.44 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be paid a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Salesforce's payout ratio is 25.98%.

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.