Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Sells 162 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 15,935 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 162 shares during the quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $4,362,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1,126.0% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 9,367 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,821,000 after buying an additional 8,603 shares during the last quarter. Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce during the first quarter worth about $214,000. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 186.2% during the first quarter. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC now owns 457,900 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $137,910,000 after buying an additional 297,900 shares in the last quarter. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 1st quarter valued at about $969,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 103.5% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 54,761 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $16,494,000 after acquiring an additional 27,850 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Salesforce from $305.00 to $385.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Salesforce from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Phillip Securities reaffirmed an “accumulate” rating and issued a $305.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $322.51.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $18,156,600.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 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 $255,905.13. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,100,399.70. The trade was a 1.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 144,373 shares of company stock valued at $41,250,680 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $326.32 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $286.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $266.61. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $348.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $311.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.57, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.29.

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. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The company 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 posted $1.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 27.83%.

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.