Bridgewater Associates LP Sells 12,858 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Bridgewater Associates LP lessened its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 270,414 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 12,858 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $74,015,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Piscataqua Savings Bank lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 2,400.0% in the second quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 100 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 816.7% in the second quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 3,125.0% in the second quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 129 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Godsey & Gibb Inc. lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 300.0% in the third quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $295.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Phillip Securities reiterated an “accumulate” rating and issued a $305.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on Salesforce from $315.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $339.66.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $343.21 on Wednesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week high of $348.86. The stock has a market cap of $328.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.29. The business’s 50 day moving average is $298.02 and its 200 day moving average is $269.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. Salesforce’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were issued 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 0.47%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.83%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,528 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.59, for a total value of $884,081.52. Following the sale, the insider now owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,464,622.79. This represents a 2.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 144,510 shares of company stock worth $42,475,538. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.