&Partners Has $2.95 Million Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

&Partners increased its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 165.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,483 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,153 shares during the quarter. &Partners’ holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,954,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Chase Investment Counsel Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 10,377 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,730,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Fox Hill Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Fox Hill Wealth Management now owns 985 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 4,946 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,490,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beaumont Asset Management L.L.C. increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Beaumont Asset Management L.L.C. now owns 8,901 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,342,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total value of $105,637.14. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,644,921.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.97, for a total value of $1,104,474.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,920,275.57. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total transaction of $105,637.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,644,921.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 135,974 shares of company stock valued at $33,440,920. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CRM. Barclays cut their price target on Salesforce from $355.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $325.00 price target (down previously from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Macquarie cut their price target on Salesforce from $330.00 to $275.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Salesforce from $350.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Salesforce from $288.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $291.50.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE CRM traded up $5.16 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $263.75. 1,725,094 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,544,403. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $251.45 and its 200-day moving average is $272.39. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $193.68 and a 52-week high of $318.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $255.57 billion, a PE ratio of 47.37, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.29.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The firm had revenue of $9.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.15 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.78%.

Salesforce Company 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.