Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Sold by L & S Advisors Inc

L & S Advisors Inc lessened its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,393 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 1,498 shares during the period. L & S Advisors Inc’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,750,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Piscataqua Savings Bank grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 100 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 816.7% in the second quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 300.0% in the third quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 3,125.0% in the second quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 129 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $385.00 price objective (up previously from $330.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $335.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Salesforce from $290.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price target on Salesforce from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Eight equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $329.11.

Salesforce Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $336.19 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $292.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $268.20. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week high of $348.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $321.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.47, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The firm had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.83%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.90, for a total transaction of $1,104,180.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,912,044.90. This trade represents a 3.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $18,156,600.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 133,183 shares of company stock valued at $38,314,066. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by 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.