Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Sold by Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc.

Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. lessened its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,400 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 5,400 shares during the quarter. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $15,711,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Salesforce by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,635,254 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $25,490,446,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008,841 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Salesforce by 26.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,329,925,000 after purchasing an additional 3,044,611 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Salesforce by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,116,449 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,251,592,000 after purchasing an additional 407,834 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Salesforce by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,141,562,000 after purchasing an additional 176,641 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Salesforce by 48.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,518,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922,674 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.87, for a total value of $1,217,454.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 118,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,353,653.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 83,581 shares of company stock worth $22,616,017 in the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on CRM shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $342.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $313.37.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM stock opened at $298.93 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $285.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $197.08 and a 12-month high of $318.71. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $271.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $262.78.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The business’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 27.83%.

Salesforce 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.