Meridian Management Co. Boosts Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Meridian Management Co. boosted its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 22,424 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 828 shares during the period. Salesforce comprises about 1.6% of Meridian Management Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Meridian Management Co.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $6,138,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Piscataqua Savings Bank lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 2,400.0% during the second quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 100 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 816.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 300.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 3,125.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CRM. FBN Securities upgraded Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Salesforce from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.80.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $341.74 on Tuesday. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $211.76 and a one year high of $344.88. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $279.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $264.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $326.70 billion, a PE ratio of 59.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.29.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 27.83%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $18,156,600.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $255,905.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,100,399.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 144,373 shares of company stock worth $41,250,680. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.