Swiss National Bank Raises Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 0.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,876,177 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,200 shares during the quarter. Salesforce makes up about 0.5% of Swiss National Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $787,238,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Piscataqua Savings Bank increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. boosted its stake in Salesforce by 300.0% during the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 3,125.0% during the 2nd quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 129 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CRM shares. FBN Securities raised shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Cfra set a $343.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Nine 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $322.51.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $18,156,600.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total transaction of $1,178,057.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 119,402 shares in the company, valued at $35,431,349.48. This represents a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 144,373 shares of company stock worth $41,250,680. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $325.26 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $286.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $266.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $348.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $310.95 billion, a PE ratio of 56.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.29.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th were paid 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 0.49%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 27.83%.

Salesforce Company 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.