PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Has $65.16 Million Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 238,067 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 16,724 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $65,161,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Aviance Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.5% during the third quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,860,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Umpqua Bank grew its holdings in Salesforce by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 7,708 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,110,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Nvwm LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 2,565 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $667,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Prentice Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.5% during the third quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,506 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $686,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 11.6% during the third quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 357 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $325.70 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $311.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.29. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $291.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $267.72. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $348.86.

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 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 company 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 firm earned $1.63 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 27.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CRM. Wedbush raised their target price on Salesforce from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $330.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $310.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $326.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following 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 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total transaction of $1,178,057.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 119,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,431,349.48. This represents a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 136,117 shares of company stock valued at $39,085,562. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company 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.