Oxford Wealth Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,714 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $817,000.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Salesforce by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,635,254 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $25,490,446,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008,841 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Salesforce by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,561,325 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,147,402,000 after acquiring an additional 457,463 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,921,042 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,926,323,000 after purchasing an additional 752,566 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 26.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,329,925,000 after purchasing an additional 3,044,611 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,116,449 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,251,592,000 after purchasing an additional 407,834 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
CRM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $342.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Salesforce from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Salesforce from $360.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $325.00 target price (down from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Macquarie cut their target price on Salesforce from $330.00 to $275.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $292.79.
Salesforce Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE:CRM traded down $0.68 on Tuesday, hitting $257.91. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,941,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,784,922. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $193.68 and a 12 month high of $318.71. The company has a market capitalization of $249.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $250.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $275.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.06. Salesforce had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 15.30%. The company had revenue of $9.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.15 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 EPS for the current year.
Salesforce Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 9th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.78%.
Insider Activity at Salesforce
In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.66, for a total transaction of $3,249,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,407,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,688,171,467.82. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total transaction of $105,637.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,644,921.18. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.66, for a total value of $3,249,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,407,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,688,171,467.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 305,042 shares of company stock valued at $81,019,465 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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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