North Star Asset Management Inc. Purchases 3,918 Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

North Star Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 10.3% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 42,035 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,918 shares during the period. North Star Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $11,281,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $8,582,000 after purchasing an additional 3,102 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $611,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 27.0% during the 4th quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,180 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 192.9% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,951 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $652,000 after buying an additional 1,285 shares during the period. Finally, Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. raised its stake in Salesforce by 206.9% in the fourth quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 17,354 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,802,000 after buying an additional 11,700 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $267.47 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $267.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $283.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $255.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.86, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.36. Salesforce Inc. has a 52-week low of $230.00 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.44 EPS. Analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were paid a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.98%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.11, for a total transaction of $605,497.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,205,522,871.81. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 37,979 shares of company stock worth $10,303,399. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on CRM. 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. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. UBS Group set a $404.00 price objective on Salesforce and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $430.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Guggenheim raised shares of Salesforce from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $348.16.

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.