Portside Wealth Group LLC Acquires 648 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Portside Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 14.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,274 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 648 shares during the quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,415,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. OMC Financial Services LTD lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. OMC Financial Services LTD now owns 11,390 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 787 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 3,366 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,125,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Mainstream Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Mainstream Capital Management LLC now owns 6,409 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,143,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 896 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $300,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, insider Miguel Milano sold 705 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.44, for a total value of $197,005.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 9,323 shares in the company, valued at $2,605,219.12. The trade was a 7.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total transaction of $1,975,615.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 41,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,219,490. This trade represents a 13.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 40,332 shares of company stock worth $11,024,802 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $274.48 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $262.40 billion, a PE ratio of 45.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $227.77 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $266.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $302.19.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.44 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be given a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on CRM shares. Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price 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. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average 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.