Lake Street Advisors Group LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,485 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,953,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 28.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC now owns 899 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. North Star Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Salesforce by 2,351.7% during the second quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,512 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,045,000 after buying an additional 22,553 shares during the period. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 2.0% during the second quarter. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC now owns 12,043 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,096,000 after buying an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 26.1% in the 2nd quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 14,017 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,604,000 after acquiring an additional 2,902 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jeppson Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 18.9% in the 2nd quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,907 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $490,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on CRM. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $325.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Salesforce from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Salesforce from $360.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Salesforce from $234.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $304.41.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $244.02 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $236.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.29. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $254.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $269.79. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $193.68 and a 12 month high of $318.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.74, for a total value of $3,626,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,940,152,355.18. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.40, for a total transaction of $673,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 115,762 shares in the company, valued at $27,829,184.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.74, for a total value of $3,626,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,940,152,355.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 83,692 shares of company stock worth $21,006,957. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.