Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Acquired by Accredited Investors Inc.

Accredited Investors Inc. lifted its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 74.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,618 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 689 shares during the quarter. Accredited Investors Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $443,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Piscataqua Savings Bank increased 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 during the period. Clear Investment Research LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 816.7% during the 2nd quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Godsey & Gibb Inc. increased its holdings in Salesforce by 300.0% during the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3,125.0% in the 2nd quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 129 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the topic of several analyst reports. BNP Paribas raised shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Wedbush increased their target price on Salesforce from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Northland Securities raised Salesforce from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $270.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Nine investment 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $322.51.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $325.26 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $348.86. The company has a market cap of $310.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.57, a PEG ratio of 3.09 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. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $286.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $266.62.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Miguel Milano sold 2,934 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.95, for a total transaction of $771,495.30. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $977,122.20. The trade was a 44.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This trade represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 144,373 shares of company stock valued at $41,250,680 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.