Rice Partnership LLC Makes New $2.13 Million Investment in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Rice Partnership LLC bought a new position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 7,942 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,131,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,035 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $346,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Seven Mile Advisory grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 1,762 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $589,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Kozak & Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 2,571 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $654,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC now owns 834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $279,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Naviter Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 9,231 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,492,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on CRM shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, June 26th. 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, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $349.08.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE:CRM opened at $271.58 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $259.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $272.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $291.46. Salesforce Inc. has a 1 year low of $230.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.44 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company 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 is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, 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 value of $1,762,784.29. Following the transaction, the insider owned 36,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,141,957.90. This represents a 16.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 1,142 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total value of $299,603.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 136,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,895,776.40. This represents a 0.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 28,534 shares of company stock valued at $7,609,842. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.