Generate Investment Management Ltd Has $15.30 Million Stock Holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Generate Investment Management Ltd lessened its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 21.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 57,027 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 15,789 shares during the quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $15,304,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CRM. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $8,582,000 after acquiring an additional 3,102 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $611,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 787 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $263,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in Salesforce by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 9,733 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,255,000 after acquiring an additional 1,739 shares during the period. Finally, Prasad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $344,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on CRM. Northland Securities lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $423.00 to $396.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $404.00 target price (up from $393.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Salesforce from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $349.08.

Salesforce Stock Up 3.0%

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $271.43 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $259.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.38. 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. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $269.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $295.94.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.44 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.61%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.98%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, Director Oscar Munoz acquired 3,882 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $257.28 per share, for a total transaction of $998,760.96. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 11,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,046,967.04. The trade was a 48.76% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,256 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total transaction of $318,157.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,248,954.06. This represents a 8.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 26,284 shares of company stock worth $6,996,762. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.