Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Sold by Atria Investments Inc

Atria Investments Inc cut its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 24.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 78,979 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 25,142 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $21,617,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in 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 acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $910,220,000. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $874,748,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $733,805,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 48.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,518,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922,674 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the topic of several research reports. FBN Securities raised Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $335.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Cfra set a $343.00 price target on Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Nine investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $313.37.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value 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 trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,998,741.74. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total value of $1,178,057.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 119,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,431,349.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 148,573 shares of company stock worth $42,319,874. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM opened at $321.95 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $307.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $277.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $264.52. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $208.84 and a 12-month high of $322.81.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released 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 return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The firm had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given 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 0.50%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.83%.

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.