Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Position Lifted by Lord Abbett & CO. LLC

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 76.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 323,810 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 140,208 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $86,898,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 450.0% during the first quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 314.8% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 112 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on CRM shares. Mizuho lowered their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Stephens decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Salesforce from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $346.84.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $237.14 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $261.72 and its 200-day moving average is $277.44. 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 capitalization of $226.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.37. Salesforce Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $226.48 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.44 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were issued a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.45, for a total value of $532,012.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,816,490,962.95. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last three months, insiders sold 44,282 shares of company stock worth $11,554,754. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Salesforce

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.