Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Purchases 71 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. boosted its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,783 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,284,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Westpark Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Stephens cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of Salesforce from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $420.00 to $275.00 in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Loop Capital cut their price target 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $367.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $346.34.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.2%

CRM opened at $266.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $227.77 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $267.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $300.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $254.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.84, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion for 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%. Salesforce’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.44 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be given a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.98%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.37, for a total value of $1,725,518.77. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,750 shares in the company, valued at $12,967,047.50. This represents a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $137,500.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,711 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,220,525. This represents a 4.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 40,332 shares of company stock valued at $11,024,802. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

About Salesforce

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.