Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Purchased by Foster Group Inc.

Foster Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 10.9% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,173 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the quarter. Foster Group Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $315,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. OMC Financial Services LTD raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. OMC Financial Services LTD now owns 11,390 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 787 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 3,366 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,125,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Mainstream Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Mainstream Capital Management LLC now owns 6,409 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,143,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 896 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on CRM. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $347.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $404.00 price objective (up from $393.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $346.34.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total value of $1,975,615.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 41,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,219,490. This trade represents a 13.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,909 shares of Salesforce 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,218,599.80. The trade was a 14.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 40,332 shares of company stock worth $11,024,802. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $274.48 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $266.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $302.58. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $227.77 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The company has a market cap of $262.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.14, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

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 business had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.44 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 25.98%.

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.