7,562 Shares in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Acquired by Goelzer Investment Management Inc.

Goelzer Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 7,562 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,029,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its position in Salesforce by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,035 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Seven Mile Advisory increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 1,762 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $589,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 2,571 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $654,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC now owns 834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Naviter Wealth LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 0.5% during the first quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 9,231 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,492,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CRM shares. DA Davidson reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $404.00 price objective (up from $393.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Stephens reduced their price target on Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $370.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $349.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 261 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total transaction of $68,473.35. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 12,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,154,496.40. This represents a 2.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 1,269 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total value of $332,922.15. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,678 shares in the company, valued at $11,196,573.30. This trade represents a 2.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 28,534 shares of company stock worth $7,609,842. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $271.58 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $272.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $292.32. 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 $259.63 billion, a PE ratio of 42.50, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.36. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $230.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The company 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%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.44 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.98%.

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.