Marino Stram & Associates LLC Buys 146 Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Marino Stram & Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 6.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,403 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $645,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.5%

Salesforce stock opened at $262.51 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market cap of $250.96 billion, a PE ratio of 41.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $268.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $299.00. Salesforce Inc. has a one year low of $229.23 and a one year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.44 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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 other news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total transaction of $1,975,615.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 41,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,219,490. This trade represents a 13.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 705 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.44, for a total transaction of $197,005.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,323 shares in the company, valued at $2,605,219.12. This trade represents a 7.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,111 shares of company stock valued at $9,299,283 over the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on CRM. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $404.00 price target (up from $393.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $346.34.

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.