Drive Wealth Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Drive Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,433 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 153 shares during the period. Drive Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $667,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 7.9% in the third quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 6,695 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,833,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth $1,051,000. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA grew its stake in Salesforce by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA now owns 1,319 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,629,000 after acquiring an additional 1,834 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TrinityPoint Wealth LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 5.6% during the third quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 7,934 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,172,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on CRM. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Salesforce from $295.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Raymond James increased their price objective on Salesforce from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Cfra set a $343.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Nine equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $322.51.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Miguel Milano sold 2,934 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.95, for a total transaction of $771,495.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $977,122.20. This trade represents a 44.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total transaction of $1,178,057.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 119,402 shares in the company, valued at $35,431,349.48. This represents a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 144,373 shares of company stock worth $41,250,680. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM stock opened at $325.26 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $310.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.29. 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 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $348.86. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $286.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $266.61.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results 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. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 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.