Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Acquired by Accel Wealth Management

Accel Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,857 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the quarter. Accel Wealth Management’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $559,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CRM. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,561,325 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,147,402,000 after purchasing an additional 457,463 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,921,042 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,926,323,000 after purchasing an additional 752,566 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 76.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,708,615 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,607,493,000 after purchasing an additional 5,935,973 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,762,331,000. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,951,415 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,566,055,000 after purchasing an additional 18,397 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Salesforce from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $355.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $365.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $292.79.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.9 %

Salesforce stock traded up $4.76 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $260.95. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,755,729 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,006,645. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $193.68 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market cap of $252.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $258.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $276.32.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.06. Salesforce had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 15.30%. The company had revenue of $9.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.15 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.15 earnings per share. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 9th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.19%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.24, for a total value of $1,076,208.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 116,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,901,414.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Salesforce news, COO Brian Millham sold 2,018 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $524,680.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.24, for a total value of $1,076,208.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 116,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,901,414.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 499,152 shares of company stock worth $136,281,661. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce 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.