Dover Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Dover Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 17.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,449 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 972 shares during the period. Dover Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,765,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. 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. GQG Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the first quarter worth $910,220,000. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Salesforce during the first quarter valued at $874,748,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in 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 during the period. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 376.1% in the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,442,453 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $370,873,000 after buying an additional 1,139,472 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM traded down $3.33 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $288.31. 3,848,536 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,463,669. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $262.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $263.55. 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 cap of $279.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.95, 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors 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 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.78%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total value of $105,637.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,644,921.18. This trade 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 accessible through this link. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $276.32, for a total transaction of $2,533,854.40. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total transaction of $105,637.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,644,921.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 76,412 shares of company stock valued at $20,212,507. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. Piper Sandler cut shares of Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Salesforce from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.74.

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.