Hartford Funds Management Co LLC Has $671,000 Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Hartford Funds Management Co LLC raised its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 9.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,450 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $671,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Piscataqua Savings Bank boosted its position in Salesforce by 2,400.0% in the second quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 100 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC raised its stake 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. Stephens Consulting LLC raised its stake 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. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Godsey & Gibb Inc. raised its stake 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. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.04, for a total transaction of $1,251,768.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 119,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,586,572.08. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 14,808 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.95, for a total transaction of $5,019,171.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 147,991 shares of company stock valued at $43,333,238. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CRM shares. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $385.00 target price (up from $330.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $295.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $335.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, August 26th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $336.37.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $342.02 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $326.97 billion, a PE ratio of 59.48, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50-day moving average is $294.61 and its 200-day moving average is $268.60. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $348.86. 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 (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The company’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 27.83%.

About Salesforce

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.