Patron Partners LLC Increases Stock Position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Patron Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 13.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,195 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the quarter. Patron Partners LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $589,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $8,582,000 after buying an additional 3,102 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $611,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $62,000. Linscomb Wealth Inc. boosted its stake in Salesforce by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. now owns 15,872 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,306,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the period. Finally, Peloton Wealth Strategists increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Peloton Wealth Strategists now owns 24,905 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $8,326,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group set a $404.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Guggenheim raised Salesforce from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $349.08.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM stock opened at $272.72 on Friday. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $230.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The firm has a market cap of $260.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.68, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.38. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $270.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $294.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.44 EPS. Analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,256 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total transaction of $318,157.36. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,826 shares in the company, valued at $3,248,954.06. The trade was a 8.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Oscar Munoz purchased 3,882 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $257.28 per share, with a total value of $998,760.96. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 11,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,046,967.04. The trade was a 48.76% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 26,284 shares of company stock worth $6,996,762. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.