Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Purchases New Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 90,637 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $24,808,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP raised its position in Salesforce by 101.0% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 193 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Able Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $70,000. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $334,000. American Trust bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $265,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,282 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $337,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.90, for a total value of $1,070,580.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 116,693 shares in the company, valued at $29,745,045.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.90, for a total transaction of $1,070,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 116,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,745,045.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total transaction of $229,434.66. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,072,660.02. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 80,612 shares of company stock worth $21,283,087. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM traded down $2.07 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $288.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,597,035 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,491,262. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $261.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $263.88. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $193.68 and a 52 week high of $318.71. The stock has a market cap of $275.42 billion, a PE ratio of 50.10, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter last year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors 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 yield of 0.56%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Salesforce from $295.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. FBN Securities raised Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Salesforce from $234.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price target on Salesforce from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.74.

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.