FAS Wealth Partners Inc. Raises Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

FAS Wealth Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 12.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,648 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. FAS Wealth Partners Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $681,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,762,331,000. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Salesforce by 76.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,708,615 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,607,493,000 after buying an additional 5,935,973 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Salesforce by 26.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,329,925,000 after buying an additional 3,044,611 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the first quarter worth $910,220,000. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the first quarter worth $874,748,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, Director G Mason Morfit purchased 428,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $233.17 per share, with a total value of $99,796,760.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,914,309 shares in the company, valued at $912,699,429.53. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Salesforce news, Director G Mason Morfit purchased 428,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $233.17 per share, with a total value of $99,796,760.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,914,309 shares in the company, valued at $912,699,429.53. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.97, for a total value of $1,104,474.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at $30,920,275.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 112,964 shares of company stock valued at $27,956,647. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.8 %

CRM traded down $1.99 during trading on Thursday, hitting $256.91. 14,295,406 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,611,886. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $253.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $271.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $193.68 and a 12-month high of $318.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $248.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.21, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.29.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 15.30%. The company’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. Analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 9th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Salesforce from $234.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Salesforce from $360.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Salesforce from $295.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $301.91.

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.