Park Avenue Securities LLC Buys 1,746 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 6.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,740 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,746 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $7,646,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Graypoint LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 10,504 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,764,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 10,377 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,730,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Opes Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $341,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fox Hill Wealth Management increased its stake in Salesforce by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Fox Hill Wealth Management now owns 985 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of CRM stock traded up $1.62 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $240.04. The stock had a trading volume of 3,998,414 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,736,059. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $247.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $274.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $232.60 billion, a PE ratio of 44.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $193.68 and a 52-week high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $9.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.15 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 15.30%. Salesforce’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.78%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.66, for a total value of $3,249,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,407,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,688,171,467.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.66, for a total transaction of $3,249,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,407,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,688,171,467.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total transaction of $229,434.66. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,072,660.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 245,042 shares of company stock valued at $64,456,417. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, July 12th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Salesforce from $325.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. DA Davidson decreased their price target on Salesforce from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $310.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $355.00 to $295.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $292.79.

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.