Rice Partnership LLC Buys New Shares in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Rice Partnership LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 7,942 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,131,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 27,358 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $9,146,000 after buying an additional 723 shares during the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at about $823,000. Heartland Bank & Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 117.2% during the first quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co now owns 5,981 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,605,000 after buying an additional 3,227 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at about $5,249,000. Finally, Elwood Capital Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,337,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.9%

Salesforce stock opened at $271.58 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $259.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.50, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.36. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $272.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $291.46. Salesforce Inc. has a 12 month low of $230.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.44 EPS. Equities analysts predict 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 will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be issued a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 1,269 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total value of $332,922.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 42,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,196,573.30. The trade was a 2.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 1,142 shares of Salesforce 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 136,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,895,776.40. The trade was a 0.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have 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 insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CRM. Royal Bank Of Canada cut Salesforce from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $420.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Westpark Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Salesforce from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $349.08.

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.