Raymond James & Associates Buys 73,450 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,481,638 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 73,450 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned 0.26% of Salesforce worth $638,029,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc boosted its stake in Salesforce by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 35,220 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $9,268,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management boosted its stake in Salesforce by 66.3% during the fourth quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management now owns 1,567 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $412,000 after buying an additional 625 shares during the period. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 7,881 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,206,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,951,415 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,566,055,000 after purchasing an additional 18,397 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 32.6% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 789,525 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $207,756,000 after purchasing an additional 194,224 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of Salesforce stock traded up $0.12 on Friday, reaching $262.91. The company had a trading volume of 3,494,863 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,614,657. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market cap of $254.76 billion, a PE ratio of 47.29, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $249.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $272.92. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $193.68 and a 52-week high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The company 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 earned $1.15 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on CRM. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $345.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $323.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $355.00 to $295.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $291.50.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.90, for a total value of $4,303,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,512,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,589,786,616.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.90, for a total value of $4,303,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,512,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,589,786,616.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.57, for a total value of $1,069,194.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,932,595.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 187,136 shares of company stock valued at $47,935,109 over the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.