Lifeworks Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Lifeworks Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 832 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $228,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 3,044,611 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 3.0% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,116,449 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,251,592,000 after purchasing an additional 407,834 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 176,641 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 48.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,518,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922,674 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 25.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,378,826 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,125,331,000 after buying an additional 877,495 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $325.28 on Friday. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $284.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $266.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $348.86. The firm has a market cap of $310.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.29.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted 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 company had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate 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 given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.83%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $255,905.13. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,100,399.70. This represents a 1.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of the firm’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $35,431,349.48. This trade represents a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 144,373 shares of company stock worth $41,250,680. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on CRM shares. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $315.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Nine investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $322.51.

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.