Castle Wealth Management LLC Raises Position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Castle Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 3.4% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,774 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Castle Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,550,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 138.9% during the first quarter. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. now owns 172 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $269.06 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $257.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.11, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $272.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $292.92. Salesforce Inc. has a 1 year low of $230.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00.

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

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.98%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,525 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.66, for a total value of $386,831.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 12,211 shares in the company, valued at $3,097,442.26. This represents a 11.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 1,142 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total value of $299,603.70. Following the transaction, the insider owned 136,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,895,776.40. This represents a 0.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 28,534 shares of company stock valued at $7,609,842 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on CRM. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. DA Davidson restated an “underperform” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Salesforce from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $347.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report 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 issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average 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.