Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Sold by Bailard Inc.

Bailard Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.9% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 19,744 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 380 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $5,298,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Seven Mile Advisory grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 1,762 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $589,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.2% during the first quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 3,165 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $849,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 7.3% during the first quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 572 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $154,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Clarity Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 2.3% in the first quarter. Clarity Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,760 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.6% in the first quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 2,571 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $654,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CRM. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Salesforce from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Stephens decreased their target price on Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 30th. DA Davidson reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $347.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $348.16.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, insider R David Schmaier sold 4,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.66, for a total value of $1,163,284.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 33,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,440,029.18. This trade represents a 12.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,525 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.66, for a total value of $386,831.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 12,211 shares in the company, valued at $3,097,442.26. This trade represents a 11.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,819 shares of company stock valued at $9,111,823 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $259.66 on Friday. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $230.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $248.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.63, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.36. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $270.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $286.99.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results 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. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 16.08%. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.44 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect 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 was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were given a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.