Advisor Resource Council Purchases Shares of 4,033 Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Advisor Resource Council acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,033 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,104,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Salesforce by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,635,254 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $25,490,446,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008,841 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 26.9% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,329,925,000 after purchasing an additional 3,044,611 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Salesforce by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,116,449 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,251,592,000 after buying an additional 407,834 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Salesforce by 2.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in 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 valued at $1,518,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922,674 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 1,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.62, for a total transaction of $352,268.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at $29,585,731.22. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 1,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.62, for a total transaction of $352,268.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,585,731.22. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,998,741.74. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 149,973 shares of company stock worth $42,672,142 in the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Salesforce Trading Up 3.2 %

NYSE:CRM opened at $306.90 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $293.40 billion, a PE ratio of 53.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $208.84 and a 12 month high of $318.71. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $275.30 and its 200 day moving average is $263.86.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced 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. 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 was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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 was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 27.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CRM. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Salesforce from $295.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. FBN Securities upgraded shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $313.37.

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.