Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Holdings Raised by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 3.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,632 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises about 0.6% of Empirical Finance LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $10,430,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Duality Advisers LP bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the first quarter valued at about $1,280,000. Concord Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in Salesforce during the first quarter worth about $3,894,000. Davidson Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Salesforce by 28,746.4% during the first quarter. Davidson Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,077 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,433,000 after acquiring an additional 8,049 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 2.2% during the first quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 47,437 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $14,287,000 after acquiring an additional 1,001 shares during the period. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 13.6% during the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 888 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $267,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.06, for a total value of $4,170,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,913,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,590,789,261.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director G Mason Morfit acquired 428,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $233.17 per share, for a total transaction of $99,796,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,914,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $912,699,429.53. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.06, for a total value of $4,170,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,913,721 shares in the company, valued at $3,590,789,261.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 439,152 shares of company stock valued at $118,115,911 in the last three months. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. Barclays lowered their target price on Salesforce from $355.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Salesforce from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. One equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $292.79.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM traded up $2.85 on Friday, hitting $253.97. The company had a trading volume of 4,692,867 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,925,801. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $256.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $275.90. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $193.68 and a 1-year high of $318.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market cap of $246.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.29.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 9th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.78%.

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.