Claro Advisors LLC Has $3.33 Million Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Claro Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 210.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,175 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,249 shares during the quarter. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,332,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 holdings in shares of Salesforce by 26.9% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,329,925,000 after acquiring an additional 3,044,611 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 3.0% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,116,449 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,251,592,000 after acquiring an additional 407,834 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.2% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,141,562,000 after acquiring an additional 176,641 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $1,518,658,000 after acquiring an additional 1,922,674 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.87, for a total transaction of $1,217,454.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 118,514 shares in the company, valued at $34,353,653.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, COO Brian Millham sold 8,427 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $2,359,560.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.87, for a total transaction of $1,217,454.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 118,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,353,653.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 80,612 shares of company stock worth $21,429,961 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CRM. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $342.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Salesforce from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Salesforce from $234.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Northland Securities upgraded Salesforce from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $270.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Salesforce from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Nine research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.74.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM stock traded up $0.73 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $291.84. 548,651 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,401,467. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $265.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $263.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $193.68 and a 52 week high of $318.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $282.79 billion, a PE ratio of 52.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results 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. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.78%.

About Salesforce

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.