GraniteShares Advisors LLC Has $1.60 Million Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

GraniteShares Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.2% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,974 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the quarter. GraniteShares Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,603,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,599,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its holdings in Salesforce by 926.4% during 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 raised its holdings in Salesforce by 30,456.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,801,588 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,020,194,000 after purchasing an additional 3,789,147 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $1,173,564,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Salesforce by 42.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,791,015 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,604,770,000 after purchasing an additional 2,325,156 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.2%

CRM opened at $266.56 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $227.77 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $254.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.84, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $267.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $300.72.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.44 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.98%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,909 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total transaction of $543,263.22. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,310 shares in the company, valued at $3,218,599.80. The trade was a 14.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.37, for a total transaction of $1,725,518.77. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,750 shares in the company, valued at $12,967,047.50. The trade was a 11.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 40,332 shares of company stock worth $11,024,802. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CRM. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Salesforce from $330.00 to $300.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $347.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $404.00 target price (up from $393.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $346.34.

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.