West Family Investments Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

West Family Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 76.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,860 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,241 shares during the quarter. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $783,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Piscataqua Savings Bank lifted its position in Salesforce by 2,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 100 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 816.7% in the 2nd quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. lifted its position in Salesforce by 300.0% in the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Salesforce in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 3,125.0% in the 2nd quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 129 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $18,156,600.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 140,173 shares of company stock worth $40,146,206 over the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM opened at $318.82 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $304.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.04, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $348.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $288.14 and a 200 day moving average of $266.96.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on CRM shares. Loop Capital boosted their target price on Salesforce from $270.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $234.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $325.36.

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.