Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Grows Position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Key Points

• Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 31.1%, owning 782,929 shares valued at approximately $210 million, making it the firm’s 19th largest investment.
• Salesforce's stock opened at $250.85, with a market capitalization of $239.81 billion, but has seen a decline of 2.9% recently.
• Several analysts have lowered their price targets for Salesforce, with Barclays setting a new objective at $347.00, while maintaining an "overweight" rating on the stock.

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 31.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 782,929 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 185,826 shares during the period. Salesforce accounts for 1.0% of Westfield Capital Management Co. LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP owned approximately 0.08% of Salesforce worth $210,107,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $8,582,000 after buying an additional 3,102 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $611,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Smith Moore & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Smith Moore & CO. now owns 1,627 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $544,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $512,000. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 7,785 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,603,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $425.00 to $347.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Northland Securities decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $423.00 to $396.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Salesforce from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, UBS Group set a $404.00 price objective on Salesforce and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $348.16.

Salesforce Stock Down 2.9%

NYSE:CRM opened at $250.85 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $239.81 billion, a PE ratio of 39.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $266.04 and a 200-day moving average of $281.65. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.44 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th were issued a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is 25.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total value of $1,975,615.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,422 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,219,490. This represents a 13.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $259.67, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 39,729 shares of company stock valued at $10,763,881 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

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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