Carmel Capital Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 4,141 Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Carmel Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 4,141 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,133,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of CRM. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake 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 worth $4,329,925,000 after acquiring an additional 3,044,611 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the first quarter worth $910,220,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the first quarter worth $874,748,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter worth $733,805,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised 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 in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Salesforce from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $342.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Salesforce from $295.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $330.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $313.37.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM opened at $321.87 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $277.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $264.52. 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 $208.84 and a 52 week high of $322.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $307.71 billion, a PE ratio of 55.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.29.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.83%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.57, for a total value of $1,069,194.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,932,595.17. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.57, for a total value of $1,069,194.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,932,595.17. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $255,905.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,100,399.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 148,573 shares of company stock valued at $42,319,874 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.