Invst LLC Boosts Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Invst LLC raised its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 9.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,455 shares during the period. Invst LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $4,181,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management grew its stake in Salesforce by 66.3% during the 4th quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management now owns 1,567 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $412,000 after buying an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 7,160 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,983,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. XN LP lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 24.2% in the second quarter. XN LP now owns 464,489 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $119,420,000 after acquiring an additional 90,616 shares during the period. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 1st quarter worth $2,178,000. Finally, First Foundation Advisors boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 38.0% during the first quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 828 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $249,000 after buying an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the business’s 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 in the company, valued at $1,644,921.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 value of $1,076,208.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 116,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,901,414.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 72,185 shares of company stock worth $18,708,571 over the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.3 %

CRM stock opened at $276.64 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $268.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.76, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $256.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $265.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $193.68 and a twelve month high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 prior year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Phillip Securities reiterated an “accumulate” rating and set a $305.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $234.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Salesforce from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $308.03.

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.