Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Sells 53,221 Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 21.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 191,507 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 53,221 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $51,701,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its position in Salesforce by 926.4% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,256,211 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,422,979,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841,521 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 30,456.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,801,588 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,020,194,000 after buying an additional 3,789,147 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 42.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,791,015 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,604,770,000 after buying an additional 2,325,156 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,752,830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,736,667 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1,744.0% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,820,262 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $488,486,000 after acquiring an additional 1,721,550 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.5%

CRM stock opened at $269.11 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $257.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.36. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $230.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $268.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $284.27. 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 released 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 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.44 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were paid a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on CRM shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Northland Securities dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $423.00 to $396.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut shares of Salesforce from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $348.16.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.56, for a total transaction of $599,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,175,148,365.76. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 33,479 shares of company stock valued at $9,091,796. 3.20% of the stock is currently 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.