Bard Financial Services Inc. Sells 550 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Bard Financial Services Inc. reduced its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,935 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 550 shares during the quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,898,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in Salesforce by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 60,700 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $15,606,000 after buying an additional 4,881 shares during the period. TruWealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Country Club Bank raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.0% during the second quarter. Country Club Bank now owns 5,042 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,275,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. DB Fitzpatrick & Co Inc lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 31.1% in the second quarter. DB Fitzpatrick & Co Inc now owns 5,093 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,309,000 after buying an additional 1,209 shares during the period. Finally, Red Door Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 13.1% during the second quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,652 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,538,000 after buying an additional 2,048 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.04, for a total transaction of $1,079,568.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at $30,223,020.24. This trade represents a 3.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 138,498 shares of company stock valued at $40,983,349. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on CRM. Northland Securities restated an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 target price (up previously from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Salesforce from $234.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Northland Capmk raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $372.86.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:CRM opened at $351.49 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The company has a market cap of $336.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $311.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $273.32.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

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.