Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Has $2.77 Million Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 156.2% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,317 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,290 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,769,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $347.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Salesforce from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $346.34.

Salesforce Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of CRM stock opened at $263.63 on Tuesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $227.77 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $268.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $299.25. The company has a market capitalization of $252.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.36, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.44 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be given a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 25.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Miguel Milano sold 705 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.44, for a total transaction of $197,005.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,605,219.12. This represents a 7.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $137,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,711 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,220,525. This represents a 4.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 34,111 shares of company stock valued at $9,299,283. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.