Chicago Capital LLC Acquires 23,578 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Chicago Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 259,356 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,578 shares during the period. Salesforce comprises approximately 2.0% of Chicago Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Chicago Capital LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $66,681,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 100 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Red Tortoise LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Stephens Consulting LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 3,125.0% during the second quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 129 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. BNP Paribas raised Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $234.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Phillip Securities reaffirmed an “accumulate” rating and issued a $305.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, August 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $304.41.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total value of $105,637.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,644,921.18. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Salesforce news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 942 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.32, for a total transaction of $228,265.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 22,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,368,357.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total value of $105,637.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,431 shares in the company, valued at $1,644,921.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 83,692 shares of company stock valued at $21,006,957. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM traded down $2.15 during trading on Friday, reaching $243.97. The stock had a trading volume of 6,259,431 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,604,331. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market cap of $236.41 billion, a PE ratio of 43.89, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50-day moving average of $254.52 and a 200-day moving average of $269.79. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $193.68 and a one year high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.78%.

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.