Moran Wealth Management LLC Sells 55,715 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Moran Wealth Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 70.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,552 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 55,715 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $6,446,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,141,562,000 after buying an additional 176,641 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Salesforce by 48.3% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Salesforce by 25.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,378,826 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,125,331,000 after acquiring an additional 877,495 shares during the last quarter. ValueAct Holdings L.P. grew its position in Salesforce by 12.3% during the 2nd quarter. ValueAct Holdings L.P. now owns 3,914,309 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,006,369,000 after acquiring an additional 428,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Salesforce by 22.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,492,583 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $897,935,000 after acquiring an additional 646,127 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 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 $255,905.13. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,930 shares in the company, valued at $15,100,399.70. This trade represents a 1.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $117,824.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 136,117 shares of company stock valued at $39,085,562. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $325.70 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $311.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.64, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $348.86. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $291.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $267.72. 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 (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 last year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th were paid 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 was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CRM. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $305.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Salesforce from $310.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $315.00 price target (up previously from $300.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $326.19.

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.