BluePath Capital Management LLC Has $692,000 Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

BluePath Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 13.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,298 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 279 shares during the quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $692,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Salesforce by 333.3% in the fourth quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM traded up $4.64 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $260.83. The company had a trading volume of 4,755,729 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,945,110. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $259.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $276.43. 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 quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $252.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.29.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The company had revenue of $9.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.15 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 7.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.24, for a total transaction of $1,076,208.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 116,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,901,414.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.24, for a total transaction of $1,076,208.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 116,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,901,414.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.66, for a total transaction of $3,249,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,407,327 shares in the company, valued at $2,688,171,467.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 499,152 shares of company stock worth $136,281,661 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $310.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $285.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $292.79.

About Salesforce

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.