Okabena Investment Services Inc. Trims Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Okabena Investment Services Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 0.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,019 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 34 shares during the quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,921,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Piscataqua Savings Bank lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2,400.0% during the second quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 100 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 816.7% during the 2nd quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Stephens Consulting LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Salesforce in the second quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Godsey & Gibb Inc. lifted its position in Salesforce by 300.0% during the third quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on CRM. Cfra set a $343.00 price target on Salesforce in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $342.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $336.37.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 3,528 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.59, for a total transaction of $884,081.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,464,622.79. The trade was a 2.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 14,808 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.95, for a total transaction of $5,019,171.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 147,991 shares of company stock worth $43,333,238 in the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $342.02 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week high of $348.86. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $326.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.48, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $294.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $268.60.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.83%.

Salesforce 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.