Calamos Wealth Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Calamos Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 15.4% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 34,408 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,599 shares during the period. Calamos Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $9,234,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 27,358 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $9,146,000 after buying an additional 723 shares in the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $823,000. Heartland Bank & Trust Co increased its stake in Salesforce by 117.2% in the 1st quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co now owns 5,981 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,605,000 after acquiring an additional 3,227 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,249,000. Finally, Elwood Capital Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,337,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their target price on Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $349.08.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $271.58 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $272.21 and a 200 day moving average of $292.32. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $230.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The company has a market cap of $259.63 billion, a PE ratio of 42.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.36. 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 (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.44 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be issued 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%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 1,142 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 value of $299,603.70. Following the sale, the insider directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 405 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total value of $106,251.75. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,605,922.55. This represents a 3.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 28,534 shares of company stock valued at $7,609,842 over the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.