Interval Partners LP Purchases 22,000 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Interval Partners LP lifted its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 157.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 36,000 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,000 shares during the period. Interval Partners LP’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $10,842,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Salesforce by 186.7% during the first quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 86 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Red Tortoise LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the first quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CRM. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Salesforce from $231.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. 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 note on Thursday, May 30th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $365.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $335.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $292.79.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Salesforce stock traded down $0.68 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $257.91. The stock had a trading volume of 3,941,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,784,922. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $193.68 and a 52-week high of $318.71. The company has a market capitalization of $249.91 billion, a PE ratio of 46.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $250.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $275.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $9.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.15 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The company’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 9th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 9th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.78%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.53, for a total transaction of $4,042,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,707,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,425,005,846.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.22, for a total transaction of $1,164,324.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 115,762 shares in the company, valued at $32,091,541.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.53, for a total transaction of $4,042,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,707,327 shares in the company, valued at $3,425,005,846.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 305,042 shares of company stock valued at $81,019,465. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company 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.