E&G Advisors LP Purchases New Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

E&G Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 744 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ancora Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 22.1% during the third quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 1,287 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at $203,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Salesforce by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,824 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,398,000 after acquiring an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 82.0% during the 3rd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,746 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,179,000 after acquiring an additional 4,843 shares during the period. Finally, AXQ Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth $831,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of CRM stock traded up $4.64 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $260.83. 4,755,729 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,945,110. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $259.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $276.43. The firm has a market cap of $252.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.29. 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 fifty-two week low of $193.68 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $9.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.15 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The business’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be issued 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 payout ratio is currently 7.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 942 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.32, for a total transaction of $228,265.44. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 22,154 shares in the company, valued at $5,368,357.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.03, for a total transaction of $4,530,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,936,166 shares in the company, valued at $3,907,110,216.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 942 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.32, for a total value of $228,265.44. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 22,154 shares in the company, valued at $5,368,357.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 499,152 shares of company stock valued at $136,281,661. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $323.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Macquarie reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $275.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. UBS Group cut their target price on Salesforce from $310.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on Salesforce from $345.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. One 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $292.79.

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.