Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Sold by Okabena Investment Services Inc.

Okabena Investment Services Inc. reduced its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,019 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 34 shares during the period. Okabena Investment Services Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,921,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Gabelli Funds LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 34.0% in the first quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 2,150 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $648,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares during the period. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 59.2% in the 1st quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 468 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lifted its position in Salesforce by 1.9% in the first quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 483,651 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $145,666,000 after buying an additional 9,249 shares during the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 134.0% during the first quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 9,663 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,910,000 after buying an additional 5,534 shares during the period. Finally, Blackstone Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 1st quarter worth approximately $48,189,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on CRM. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Phillip Securities reiterated an “accumulate” rating and issued a $305.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, August 30th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $336.37.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $18,156,600.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 147,991 shares of company stock worth $43,333,238 over the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE CRM opened at $342.02 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $294.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $268.60. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $348.86. 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 firm has a market cap of $326.97 billion, a PE ratio of 59.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.29.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The firm had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.83%.

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.