Bessemer Group Inc. Acquires 27,850 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 103.5% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 54,761 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 27,850 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $16,494,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Salesforce by 186.7% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Red Tortoise LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total transaction of $105,637.14. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,644,921.18. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total transaction of $105,637.14. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,644,921.18. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.79, for a total value of $4,121,850.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,737,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,500,090,086.33. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 338,273 shares of company stock worth $90,159,503. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.9 %

CRM stock traded up $4.84 on Thursday, hitting $254.62. 1,781,254 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,782,460. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $193.68 and a 12-month high of $318.71. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $252.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $275.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market cap of $246.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.29.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $9.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CRM shares. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Salesforce from $335.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $365.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Salesforce from $345.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Salesforce from $360.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus 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.