Sheets Smith Wealth Management Purchases 871 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Sheets Smith Wealth Management grew its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 35.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,351 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 871 shares during the quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,009,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Salesforce by 186.7% during the 1st quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 86 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Red Tortoise LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the first quarter valued at about $33,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on CRM. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Salesforce from $360.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $250.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Salesforce from $355.00 to $295.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $292.79.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 942 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.32, for a total transaction of $228,265.44. Following the sale, the insider now owns 22,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,368,357.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, Director G Mason Morfit bought 428,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $233.17 per share, with a total value of $99,796,760.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,914,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $912,699,429.53. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 942 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.32, for a total value of $228,265.44. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 22,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,368,357.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 403,578 shares of company stock valued at $108,177,539. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE CRM traded down $4.86 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $251.17. 5,624,114 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,880,560. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $193.68 and a twelve month high of $318.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $243.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.30, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $255.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $275.81. 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 (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $9.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.15 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 is Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. 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.