Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Sold by River Global Investors LLP

River Global Investors LLP trimmed its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,030 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 77 shares during the period. River Global Investors LLP’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $829,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC now owns 905 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 13.2% in the 1st quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 10,294 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,100,000 after buying an additional 1,201 shares during the period. Pointe Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 13.1% during the 1st quarter. Pointe Capital Management LLC now owns 1,985 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $598,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 6.5% in the first quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 11,735 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,534,000 after acquiring an additional 713 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verus Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 4.2% in the first quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,790 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $539,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Salesforce from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Northland Securities raised shares of Salesforce from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $270.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Phillip Securities reaffirmed an “accumulate” rating and set a $305.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Wedbush raised 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. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Nine equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $313.37.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related 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 transaction of $608,108.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 828 shares of the company’s stock, 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 at the SEC website. In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total transaction of $608,108.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,702.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 148,573 shares of company stock valued at $42,319,874 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM traded up $11.17 on Friday, reaching $321.95. The company had a trading volume of 8,484,970 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,715,824. The company has a market capitalization of $307.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.99, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a fifty day moving average of $277.76 and a 200-day moving average of $264.43. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $208.84 and a one year high of $322.81.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.