Aviso Wealth Management Acquires 302 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Aviso Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 10.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,075 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the quarter. Aviso Wealth Management’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $791,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Ascent Group LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 15.2% during the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 19,556 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,028,000 after acquiring an additional 2,581 shares during the period. Vulcan Value Partners LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 76.1% during the second quarter. Vulcan Value Partners LLC now owns 1,476,111 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $379,469,000 after acquiring an additional 637,710 shares during the period. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC bought a new position in Salesforce during the second quarter worth about $386,000. Scientech Research LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 106.2% in the 2nd quarter. Scientech Research LLC now owns 5,918 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,522,000 after buying an additional 3,048 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Salesforce by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,141,562,000 after buying an additional 176,641 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler raised shares of Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $268.00 to $325.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $234.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $295.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $308.03.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $276.64 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $268.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $193.68 and a 52-week high of $318.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $256.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $265.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.78%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.24, for a total value of $1,076,208.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 116,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,901,414.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.24, for a total value of $1,076,208.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 116,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,901,414.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total transaction of $105,637.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,644,921.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 72,185 shares of company stock worth $18,708,571. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.