Proficio Capital Partners LLC Raises Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 13.2% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,232 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $672,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Red Tortoise LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on CRM shares. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective (down previously from $360.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Wedbush reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $342.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $231.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $292.79.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.9 %

Salesforce stock traded down $4.95 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $252.42. The company had a trading volume of 7,015,207 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,939,571. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $193.68 and a 12-month high of $318.71. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $257.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $276.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $244.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.40, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.29.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The company had revenue of $9.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.15 earnings per share. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 7.19%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.42, for a total transaction of $4,491,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,958,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,880,100,241.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.42, for a total value of $4,491,300.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,958,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,880,100,241.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.24, for a total transaction of $1,076,208.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 116,693 shares in the company, valued at $29,901,414.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 464,952 shares of company stock valued at $125,981,761. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.