Carret Asset Management LLC Has $805,000 Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Carret Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,674 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 110 shares during the quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $805,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 333.3% in the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the topic of several recent research reports. DA Davidson decreased their price target on Salesforce from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Salesforce from $310.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $325.00 target price (down previously from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $250.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $292.79.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $260.83 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $193.68 and a 12 month high of $318.71. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $259.03 and a 200-day moving average of $276.43. The company has a market capitalization of $252.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.29.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.06. Salesforce had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 15.30%. 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 company posted $1.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.19%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total value of $662,388.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,599,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.14, for a total value of $4,502,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,951,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,887,162,963.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total value of $662,388.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,599,566.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 499,152 shares of company stock worth $136,281,661 in the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.