Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Bought by HM Payson & Co.

HM Payson & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,112 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 76 shares during the quarter. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,125,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CRM. XN LP increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 24.2% in the 2nd quarter. XN LP now owns 464,489 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $119,420,000 after purchasing an additional 90,616 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Salesforce by 27.5% in the third quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,999 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,284,000 after buying an additional 2,589 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,178,000. First Foundation Advisors lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 38.0% during the 1st quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 828 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $249,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elevated Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $523,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $313.37.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $291.41 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $278.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.68, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $198.66 and a 1-year high of $318.71. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $272.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $263.22.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.83%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $255,905.13. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,100,399.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.22, for a total transaction of $675,416.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at $28,362,888.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $255,905.13. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 52,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,100,399.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 148,303 shares of company stock worth $42,024,385. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.