Nwam LLC Buys New Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Nwam LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 4,209 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,152,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Gabelli Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 34.0% during the first quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 2,150 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $648,000 after acquiring an additional 545 shares during the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 59.2% in the first quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI raised its holdings in shares of 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 shares of 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. purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the first quarter worth about $48,189,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total transaction of $608,108.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,702.68. This represents a 75.00 % 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, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,930 shares in the company, valued at $15,100,399.70. This trade represents a 1.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 147,991 shares of company stock worth $43,333,238 over the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $342.02 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $294.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $268.60. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $348.86. The company has a market cap of $326.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. The business 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Salesforce from $305.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $295.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wedbush increased their target price on Salesforce from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $336.37.

Salesforce 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.