Crescent Sterling Ltd. Increases Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Crescent Sterling Ltd. increased its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 79.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,078 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,359 shares during the period. Crescent Sterling Ltd.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $826,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,599,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its holdings in Salesforce by 926.4% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,256,211 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,422,979,000 after buying an additional 3,841,521 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 30,456.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,801,588 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,020,194,000 after buying an additional 3,789,147 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,173,564,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Salesforce by 42.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,791,015 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,604,770,000 after buying an additional 2,325,156 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $272.36 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $260.38 billion, a PE ratio of 44.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $266.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $301.70. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $227.77 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.44 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be given a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $137,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,711 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,220,525. This represents a 4.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.37, for a total transaction of $1,725,518.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,750 shares in the company, valued at $12,967,047.50. This trade represents a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 40,332 shares of company stock worth $11,024,802. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $347.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Stephens dropped their target price on Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $404.00 price target (up previously from $393.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Salesforce from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $346.34.

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.