PDS Planning Inc Buys 343 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

PDS Planning Inc increased its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,496 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 343 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,231,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Salesforce by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,635,254 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $25,490,446,000 after buying an additional 1,008,841 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 26.9% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,329,925,000 after acquiring an additional 3,044,611 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 407,834 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Salesforce by 2.2% during 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 increased its holdings in Salesforce by 48.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,518,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922,674 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 1,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.62, for a total value of $352,268.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,585,731.22. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 148,303 shares of company stock worth $42,024,385 in the last three months. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE CRM traded down $1.53 on Monday, reaching $293.19. 502,684 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,246,928. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $273.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $263.18. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $204.69 and a 12 month high of $318.71. The company has a market cap of $280.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.29.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders 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 0.55%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CRM. Citigroup lifted their target price on Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Loop Capital reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on Salesforce from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Nine 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $313.37.

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.