Courier Capital LLC Acquires 337 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Courier Capital LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,270 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 337 shares during the quarter. Courier Capital LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,632,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,635,254 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $25,490,446,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008,841 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 26.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,044,611 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 3.0% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,116,449 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,251,592,000 after acquiring an additional 407,834 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.2% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,141,562,000 after acquiring an additional 176,641 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 48.3% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,518,658,000 after acquiring an additional 1,922,674 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total value of $608,108.04. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 828 shares in the company, valued at $202,702.68. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.28, for a total value of $1,080,576.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at $30,251,239.68. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total transaction of $608,108.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 828 shares in the company, valued at $202,702.68. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 85,502 shares of company stock worth $23,045,186 over the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM traded down $2.75 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $285.58. 1,095,209 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,354,121. The company has a market cap of $276.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $193.68 and a 12-month high of $318.71. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $268.12 and a 200 day moving average of $263.09. 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 issued its 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. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Phillip Securities reissued an “accumulate” rating and set a $305.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, August 30th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $335.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Salesforce from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $311.66.

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.