First Horizon Advisors Inc. Buys 181 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 18,830 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $5,154,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 22,083 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $6,044,000 after acquiring an additional 2,665 shares during the last quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. bought a new stake in Salesforce during the third quarter worth about $283,000. NS Partners Ltd increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. NS Partners Ltd now owns 101,716 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $27,841,000 after purchasing an additional 2,434 shares during the last quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 29.3% during the 3rd quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 4,283 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,172,000 after buying an additional 970 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sachetta LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 5,505.1% in the third quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 10,986 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,007,000 after buying an additional 10,790 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Miguel Milano sold 2,934 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.95, for a total transaction of $771,495.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $977,122.20. This trade represents a 44.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $255,905.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 52,930 shares in the company, valued at $15,100,399.70. This represents a 1.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 136,117 shares of company stock worth $39,085,562. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CRM. Northland Capmk raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Erste Group Bank upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Salesforce in a research report on Monday. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $425.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $310.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $326.19.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of CRM stock opened at $325.70 on Thursday. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year 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. The company has a market capitalization of $311.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.64, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $291.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $267.72.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s 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.