Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC Takes $387,000 Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 1,286 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $387,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,635,254 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $25,490,446,000 after buying an additional 1,008,841 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings 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 during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 5.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 752,566 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake 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 during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3.0% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,116,449 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,251,592,000 after purchasing an additional 407,834 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on CRM shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $250.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $355.00 to $295.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Macquarie decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $330.00 to $275.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $325.00 target price (down previously from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, May 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $292.79.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM traded up $6.19 during trading on Friday, reaching $262.71. 6,127,323 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,751,811. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market cap of $254.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $193.68 and a 12-month high of $318.71. The company’s 50-day moving average is $251.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $275.48.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.78%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, COO Brian Millham sold 969 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.63, for a total value of $245,767.47. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, COO Brian Millham sold 969 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.63, for a total value of $245,767.47. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,644,921.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 324,242 shares of company stock valued at $86,279,221. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.