Claro Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Claro Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 39.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,476 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,550 shares during the quarter. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,499,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. M&G Plc acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at $2,178,000. First Foundation Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 38.0% in the first quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 828 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1,126.0% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 9,367 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,821,000 after purchasing an additional 8,603 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 16.0% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 950 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Finally, Rockport Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the first quarter valued at approximately $598,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.9 %

CRM stock opened at $325.26 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $310.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.57, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $286.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $266.62. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $348.86. 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 posted 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. The firm had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 27.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $234.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $315.00 price objective (up previously from $300.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Salesforce from $325.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $322.51.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total value of $608,108.04. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $202,702.68. This represents a 75.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 144,373 shares of company stock valued at $41,250,680. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Salesforce 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.