Chapin Davis Inc. Acquires New Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Chapin Davis Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,870 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $563,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,561,325 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,147,402,000 after purchasing an additional 457,463 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,921,042 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,926,323,000 after purchasing an additional 752,566 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 76.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,708,615 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,607,493,000 after purchasing an additional 5,935,973 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,762,331,000. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,951,415 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,566,055,000 after purchasing an additional 18,397 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE:CRM traded down $1.23 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $255.87. 423,303 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,933,556. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $259.79 and its 200-day moving average is $276.47. The firm has a market cap of $247.94 billion, a PE ratio of 46.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $193.68 and a twelve month high of $318.71.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 5,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.17, for a total transaction of $1,400,952.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 116,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,193,087.81. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 5,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.17, for a total transaction of $1,400,952.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 116,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,193,087.81. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total transaction of $662,388.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,599,566.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 507,934 shares of company stock valued at $139,262,073 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $325.00 price target (down previously from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $323.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Wedbush cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $285.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. One 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $292.79.

Salesforce Company 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.