Bristlecone Advisors LLC Acquires 60 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Bristlecone Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 0.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 7,332 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Bristlecone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,007,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,635,254 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $25,490,446,000 after buying an additional 1,008,841 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Salesforce by 26.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,329,925,000 after acquiring an additional 3,044,611 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its position in 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 last quarter. 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 increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,922,674 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 2,800 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.22, for a total transaction of $675,416.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,362,888.82. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $255,905.13. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 52,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,100,399.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.22, for a total transaction of $675,416.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,362,888.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 87,781 shares of company stock valued at $23,696,593 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wedbush boosted their price target on Salesforce from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Loop Capital reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Salesforce from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 price objective (up previously from $300.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $312.51.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $290.46 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $193.68 and a 12-month high of $318.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $281.46 billion, a PE ratio of 52.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $269.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $263.05.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. 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 is presently 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.