Financial Insights Inc. Cuts Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Financial Insights Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 47.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,865 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 1,701 shares during the period. Financial Insights Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $510,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 186.7% during the 1st quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 86 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Piscataqua Savings Bank raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 100 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Red Tortoise LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Clear Investment Research LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 816.7% during the 2nd quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, Godsey & Gibb Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 300.0% during the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. 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. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Salesforce from $234.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. FBN Securities upgraded Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on Salesforce from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $311.66.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $288.24 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $268.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $263.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $279.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.84, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $193.68 and a 1-year high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. The firm 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 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.78%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, Director Maynard G. Webb, Jr. sold 9,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.32, for a total value of $2,533,854.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $376,624.16. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.82, for a total transaction of $1,213,044.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 118,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,229,213.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Maynard G. Webb, Jr. sold 9,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.32, for a total value of $2,533,854.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,363 shares in the company, valued at $376,624.16. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 85,502 shares of company stock valued at $23,045,186. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.