3Chopt Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Free Report) by 40.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,187 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 917 shares during the period. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $870,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Coign Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Coign Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,183 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $586,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Salesforce by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. now owns 3,343 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $897,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. KDT Advisors LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 4.1% in the first quarter. KDT Advisors LLC now owns 967 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 1.2% in the first quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 3,165 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $849,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in Salesforce by 7.3% in the first quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 572 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $154,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.
Salesforce Stock Up 1.9%
CRM opened at $244.92 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $244.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $259.25. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $226.48 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The company has a market capitalization of $233.16 billion, a PE ratio of 35.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.
Salesforce Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 17th were issued a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 17th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.13%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk acquired 3,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $254.66 per share, for a total transaction of $865,844.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $973,819.84. This trade represents a 801.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.40, for a total transaction of $558,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,911,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,958,834,236.40. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 78,750 shares of company stock valued at $19,634,805. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of research analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. KeyCorp cut their price objective on Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $255.00 to $221.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Salesforce from $365.00 to $325.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Salesforce from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Twenty-six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $331.89.
Get Our Latest Research Report on CRM
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.
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