Strengthening Families & Communities LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Strengthening Families & Communities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 7.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,695 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 490 shares during the period. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,833,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 26.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,329,925,000 after purchasing an additional 3,044,611 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,116,449 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,251,592,000 after acquiring an additional 407,834 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,141,562,000 after acquiring an additional 176,641 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 48.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,518,658,000 after acquiring an additional 1,922,674 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 25.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,378,826 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,125,331,000 after acquiring an additional 877,495 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $234.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Phillip Securities reissued an “accumulate” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $322.51.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $325.26 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $286.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $266.61. 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 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $348.86. The firm has a market cap of $310.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.57, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.29.

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. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The firm had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 27.83%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, insider Miguel Milano sold 2,934 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.95, for a total value of $771,495.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,716 shares in the company, valued at $977,122.20. This trade represents a 44.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total value of $1,178,057.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 119,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,431,349.48. This trade represents a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 144,373 shares of company stock worth $41,250,680 in the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.