Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Purchased by Patron Partners LLC

Patron Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 13.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,195 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the quarter. Patron Partners LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $589,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,955,353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $6,656,078,000 after buying an additional 175,035 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,453,872 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,163,703,000 after acquiring an additional 177,321 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,752,830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,736,667 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $3,599,867,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Salesforce by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,938,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,988,422,000 after purchasing an additional 1,683,233 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $272.72 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a 50-day moving average of $270.38 and a 200 day moving average of $294.66. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $230.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The stock has a market cap of $260.72 billion, a PE ratio of 42.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.38.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released 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. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 25.98%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Oscar Munoz acquired 3,882 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $257.28 per share, for a total transaction of $998,760.96. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 11,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,046,967.04. This represents a 48.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,256 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total transaction of $318,157.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,826 shares in the company, valued at $3,248,954.06. This trade represents a 8.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 26,284 shares of company stock valued at $6,996,762. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on CRM. Stephens cut their price target on Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 30th. UBS Group set a $404.00 target price on Salesforce and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded Salesforce from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $420.00 to $275.00 in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $349.08.

Salesforce 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.