Calamos Advisors LLC Has $88.43 Million Stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Calamos Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 11.2% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 329,528 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 33,180 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $88,432,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CRM. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,955,353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $6,656,078,000 after purchasing an additional 175,035 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 18.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,752,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,736,667 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $3,599,867,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,938,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,988,422,000 after purchasing an additional 1,683,233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,658,132 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,894,673,000 after acquiring an additional 602,445 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CRM. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Northland Securities dropped 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. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $367.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $349.08.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of CRM stock opened at $271.58 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $272.21 and a 200-day moving average of $292.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $230.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The firm has a market cap of $259.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.50, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.36.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released 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. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.44 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $0.416 dividend. 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%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider R David Schmaier sold 6,959 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 36,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,141,957.90. The trade was a 16.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 1,142 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total transaction of $299,603.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 136,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,895,776.40. This represents a 0.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 28,534 shares of company stock worth $7,609,842 in the last three months. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.