CGN Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

CGN Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 8.9% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,435 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 933 shares during the quarter. CGN Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,069,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $236,000. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $8,582,000 after buying an additional 3,102 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $104,173,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $611,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Creek Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $364,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, insider R David Schmaier sold 6,959 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total transaction of $1,762,784.29. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,141,957.90. The trade was a 16.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 41,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,219,490. This represents a 13.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 40,332 shares of company stock worth $11,024,802. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Northland Securities reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $423.00 to $396.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $370.00 price objective (down previously from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Salesforce from $320.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $343.32.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of CRM opened at $261.28 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $266.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $303.86. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $227.77 and a one year high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $251.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.97, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.42.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.44 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This is a boost from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. 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.