Cohen Investment Advisors LLC Buys 368 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Cohen Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 3.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,593 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 368 shares during the period. Salesforce accounts for about 2.1% of Cohen Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,190,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CRM. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 18.4% in the first quarter. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,650 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $497,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 21.6% during the first quarter. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,585 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,682,000 after buying an additional 991 shares during the last quarter. Veracity Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 33.1% in the first quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 1,366 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $411,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the period. Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in Salesforce by 21.8% in the first quarter. Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. now owns 937 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 1st quarter worth $259,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.66, for a total value of $3,249,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,407,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,688,171,467.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.66, for a total value of $3,249,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,407,327 shares in the company, valued at $2,688,171,467.82. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.75, for a total transaction of $1,267,350.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 105,837 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,936,314.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 499,152 shares of company stock worth $136,281,661. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of Salesforce stock traded up $4.76 on Thursday, reaching $260.95. 4,755,729 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,006,645. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $193.68 and a one year high of $318.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a 50-day moving average of $258.72 and a 200 day moving average of $276.32. The company has a market capitalization of $252.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.93, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.29.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 9th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 7.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $342.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Salesforce from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. DA Davidson cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $292.79.

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.