Covestor Ltd Purchases 79 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,046 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $286,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 12.4% in the first quarter. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC now owns 905 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $273,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 13.2% during the 1st quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 10,294 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,100,000 after purchasing an additional 1,201 shares in the last quarter. Pointe Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 13.1% in the first quarter. Pointe Capital Management LLC now owns 1,985 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $598,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in Salesforce by 6.5% in the first quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 11,735 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,534,000 after purchasing an additional 713 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verus Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 4.2% during the first quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,790 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $539,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Loop Capital restated a “hold” rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Northland Securities upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $270.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup raised their target price on Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Cfra set a $343.00 price target on Salesforce in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on Salesforce from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $313.37.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.57, for a total transaction of $1,069,194.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,932,595.17. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Salesforce news, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $18,156,600.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.57, for a total value of $1,069,194.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at $29,932,595.17. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 148,573 shares of company stock valued at $42,319,874. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Salesforce Stock Up 3.6 %

CRM opened at $321.95 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $208.84 and a fifty-two week high of $322.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $307.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.99, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50-day moving average is $277.76 and its 200 day moving average is $264.52. 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 (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. Research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. 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.