Uniting Wealth Partners LLC Increases Position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Uniting Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,933 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the quarter. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $519,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Mainstream Capital Management LLC now owns 6,409 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,143,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its stake in Salesforce by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,035 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $346,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 449 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $150,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 1,289 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seven Mile Advisory lifted its stake in Salesforce by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 1,762 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $589,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $272.72 on Friday. 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 $260.72 billion, a PE ratio of 42.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.38. Salesforce Inc. has a one year low of $230.00 and a one year high of $369.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $270.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $294.66.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%. Salesforce’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.44 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 25.98%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,256 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total value of $318,157.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,248,954.06. This trade represents a 8.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 6,959 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 value of $1,762,784.29. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,141,957.90. This trade represents a 16.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 26,284 shares of company stock valued at $6,996,762 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Salesforce from $367.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $404.00 target price (up from $393.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Northland Securities dropped their target price on Salesforce from $423.00 to $396.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Guggenheim raised Salesforce from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $349.08.

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.