Leelyn Smith LLC Grows Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Leelyn Smith LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 3.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,923 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 246 shares during the period. Leelyn Smith LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,895,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Stonebrook Private Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 5,645 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,545,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Nwam LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,152,000. Meridian Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 3.7% in the third quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,729 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,495,000 after buying an additional 850 shares during the last quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 1.7% during the third quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 2,401 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $658,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, Icon Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 281.9% during the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 41,159 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $11,266,000 after acquiring an additional 30,382 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 14,808 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.95, for a total value of $5,019,171.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 147,991 shares of company stock valued at $43,333,238. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CRM. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Wedbush increased their target price on Salesforce from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. UBS Group raised their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $336.37.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $342.12 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $294.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $268.66. The stock has a market cap of $327.07 billion, a PE ratio of 59.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.29. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $348.86.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate 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 last year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.