Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Buys 332 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,664 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $8,332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,635,254 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $25,490,446,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008,841 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 26.9% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,329,925,000 after acquiring an additional 3,044,611 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 3.0% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,116,449 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,251,592,000 after acquiring an additional 407,834 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 2.2% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,141,562,000 after acquiring an additional 176,641 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 48.3% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,518,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922,674 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on CRM shares. Wedbush upped their price target on Salesforce from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, September 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Salesforce from $234.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $325.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, September 6th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $313.37.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.62, for a total transaction of $352,268.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at $29,585,731.22. This trade represents a 0.00 % 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. In related news, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the firm’s 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.62, for a total transaction of $352,268.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,585,731.22. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,303 shares of company stock worth $42,024,385 over the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $296.62 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $271.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $263.02. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $198.66 and a 52 week high of $318.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $283.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.59, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. Salesforce’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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