Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Position Reduced by Confluence Wealth Services Inc.

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. reduced its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 14.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,154 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 358 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $589,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Salesforce by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,635,254 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $25,490,446,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008,841 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 26.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,329,925,000 after purchasing an additional 3,044,611 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,116,449 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,251,592,000 after purchasing an additional 407,834 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Salesforce by 2.2% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,141,562,000 after purchasing an additional 176,641 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Salesforce by 48.3% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,518,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922,674 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $18,156,600.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $18,156,600.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 1,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.62, for a total transaction of $352,268.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,585,731.22. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 148,303 shares of company stock valued at $42,024,385 over the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Northland Securities raised Salesforce from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $270.00 to $400.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $342.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. UBS Group increased their price target on Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 price objective (up from $300.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, September 20th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $313.37.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.1 %

CRM stock opened at $294.72 on Monday. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $204.69 and a twelve month high of $318.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market cap of $281.75 billion, a PE ratio of 51.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.29. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $273.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $263.18.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion for 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%. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.83%.

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.