Pittenger & Anderson Inc. Grows Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 0.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 85,746 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises 0.9% of Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $23,469,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Amalgamated Bank increased its stake in Salesforce by 2.3% in the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 209,077 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $57,226,000 after acquiring an additional 4,641 shares during the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC now owns 4,405 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,206,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. United Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 95.6% during the 3rd quarter. United Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,715 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $469,000 after purchasing an additional 838 shares during the last quarter. Clarity Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Clarity Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,068 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,124,000 after buying an additional 2,092 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 23.5% in the 3rd quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 6,263 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,714,000 after buying an additional 1,190 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $298.01 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $273.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $263.36. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $204.69 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71. The company has a market capitalization of $284.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.57, for a total transaction of $1,069,194.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,932,595.17. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 146,003 shares of company stock worth $41,494,084. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on CRM shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $285.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Loop Capital reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $335.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $313.37.

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.