Wedmont Private Capital Has $4.29 Million Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Wedmont Private Capital lifted its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 0.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,811 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $4,287,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 85.1% during the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on CRM shares. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $370.00 price objective (down from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Mizuho cut their price target 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. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $346.34.

Salesforce Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of CRM stock opened at $274.48 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $262.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.14, a P/E/G 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. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $266.57 and its 200 day moving average is $302.42. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $227.77 and a 12-month high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.44 EPS. Research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 3,273 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total transaction of $931,430.34. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 125,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,614,048.68. The trade was a 2.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.37, for a total value of $1,725,518.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,967,047.50. This trade represents a 11.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 40,332 shares of company stock valued at $11,024,802 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.