Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 9.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,958 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,631,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Salesforce by 186.7% during the first quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 86 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank increased its stake in Salesforce by 2,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 100 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Clear Investment Research LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 816.7% in the 2nd quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Red Tortoise LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 3,125.0% in the 2nd quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 129 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CRM. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $342.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, September 6th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.74.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.5 %

CRM traded up $1.32 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $292.43. 721,933 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,402,033. The company has a market cap of $283.36 billion, a PE ratio of 52.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $265.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $263.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $193.68 and a one year high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share 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 dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 28.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, COO Brian Millham sold 2,037 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.75, for a total transaction of $506,703.75. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 1,947 shares in the company, valued at $484,316.25. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.22, for a total transaction of $675,416.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at $28,362,888.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 2,037 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.75, for a total transaction of $506,703.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 1,947 shares in the company, valued at approximately $484,316.25. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 80,612 shares of company stock worth $21,429,961 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Company 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.