Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Bought by Austin Asset Management Co Inc

Austin Asset Management Co Inc raised its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 27.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 815 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 175 shares during the quarter. Austin Asset Management Co Inc’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $219,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,256 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,248,954.06. This represents a 8.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 6,959 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total transaction of $1,762,784.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 36,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,141,957.90. This represents a 16.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 26,284 shares of company stock worth $6,996,762 over the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Salesforce from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $325.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. UBS Group set a $404.00 target price on Salesforce and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Salesforce from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $349.08.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $268.11 on Thursday. 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 company 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. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $269.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $295.75. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $230.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.44 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.62%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

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.