Strengthening Families & Communities LLC Boosts Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Strengthening Families & Communities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,695 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,833,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 26.9% in the 1st 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 grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,116,449 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,251,592,000 after acquiring an additional 407,834 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,141,562,000 after acquiring an additional 176,641 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position 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 valued at $1,518,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922,674 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Salesforce by 25.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,378,826 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,125,331,000 after purchasing an additional 877,495 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $325.26 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $286.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $266.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $310.95 billion, a PE ratio of 56.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $348.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CRM. Northland Capmk upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Raymond James boosted their price target on Salesforce from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $335.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Phillip Securities reissued an “accumulate” rating and issued a $305.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $322.51.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, Director Maynard G. Webb, Jr. sold 9,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.32, for a total transaction of $2,533,854.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $376,624.16. This represents a 87.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $18,156,600.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 144,373 shares of company stock worth $41,250,680. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.