Pointe Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Pointe Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 13.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,985 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 230 shares during the quarter. Pointe Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $598,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 333.3% during the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock traded down $1.13 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $252.84. The company had a trading volume of 4,403,696 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,907,069. 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 12-month low of $193.68 and a 12-month high of $318.71. The company has a market capitalization of $245.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $255.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $275.86.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its 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. The company had revenue of $9.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.15 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 28.78%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 942 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.32, for a total transaction of $228,265.44. Following the sale, the insider now owns 22,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,368,357.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total transaction of $662,388.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,599,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 942 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.32, for a total value of $228,265.44. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 22,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,368,357.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 424,152 shares of company stock valued at $113,945,011. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CRM. Macquarie reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $275.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Salesforce from $345.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $310.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Wedbush lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $292.79.

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.