Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. lessened its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 94.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,525 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 107,855 shares during the quarter. Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,751,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 450.0% during the first quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 314.8% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 112 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.49, for a total transaction of $543,352.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,876,525,280.79. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 48,782 shares of company stock worth $12,626,046. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. Citigroup lowered their price target on Salesforce from $320.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $404.00 price target (up previously from $393.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Stephens lowered their price target on Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 30th. Westpark Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $342.89.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.7%

CRM stock opened at $244.15 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $233.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.21, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. Salesforce Inc. has a one year low of $226.48 and a one year high of $369.00. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $259.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $274.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released 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 firm had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 previous year, the company earned $2.44 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business 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 of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

Salesforce 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.