Arvest Investments Inc. Has $2.05 Million Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Arvest Investments Inc. grew its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 673.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,630 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,643 shares during the quarter. Arvest Investments Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,048,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,599,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 926.4% in 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 valued at $1,422,979,000 after buying an additional 3,841,521 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 30,456.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,801,588 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,020,194,000 after buying an additional 3,789,147 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,173,564,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 42.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,791,015 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,604,770,000 after buying an additional 2,325,156 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE:CRM opened at $265.93 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $267.35 and its 200-day moving average is $301.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $227.77 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The firm has a market cap of $254.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.44 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the 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 directly owns 46,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,967,047.50. This represents a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 6,959 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total transaction of $1,762,784.29. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,141,957.90. This represents a 16.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 40,332 shares of company stock valued at $11,024,802 over the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Westpark Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $346.34.

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.