Beech Hill Advisors Inc. Has $3.83 Million Position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Beech Hill Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,275 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 190 shares during the period. Salesforce makes up 1.5% of Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,831,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $268.11 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market cap of $256.31 billion, a PE ratio of 41.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.38. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $230.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $269.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $295.75.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.44 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be issued a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 261 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total transaction of $68,473.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,154,496.40. The trade was a 2.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total value of $1,975,615.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 41,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,219,490. This trade represents a 13.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 26,284 shares of company stock valued at $6,996,762. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $430.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $347.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $349.08.

Salesforce Company 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.