Kowal Investment Group LLC Increases Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Kowal Investment Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 112.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,772 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 936 shares during the period. Kowal Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $485,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 186.7% during the 1st quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 86 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 2,400.0% in the second quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 100 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 816.7% during 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. Red Tortoise LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 3,125.0% during the 2nd quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 129 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $335.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research 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 research note on Thursday, September 19th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Northland Securities upgraded Salesforce from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $270.00 to $400.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.74.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $290.89 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $281.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.32, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $193.68 and a one year high of $318.71. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $265.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $263.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 28.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Maynard G. Webb, Jr. sold 9,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.32, for a total transaction of $2,533,854.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,363 shares in the company, valued at $376,624.16. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Maynard G. Webb, Jr. sold 9,170 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.32, for a total value of $2,533,854.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $376,624.16. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 value of $105,637.14. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,431 shares in the company, valued at $1,644,921.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 80,612 shares of company stock worth $21,429,961 over the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.