Eagle Asset Management Inc. Has $20.61 Million Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 40.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 75,295 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,540 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $20,609,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gabelli Funds LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 34.0% in the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 2,150 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $648,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares in the last quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the 1st quarter worth about $387,000. BOKF NA grew its position in Salesforce by 37.5% in the 1st quarter. BOKF NA now owns 24,543 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $7,418,000 after purchasing an additional 6,694 shares in the last quarter. Ceeto Capital Group LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Ceeto Capital Group LLC now owns 7,750 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,338,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc grew its position in Salesforce by 22.4% in the 1st quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 7,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,359,000 after purchasing an additional 1,435 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $342.12 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $348.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The company’s 50-day moving average is $294.61 and its 200 day moving average is $268.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $327.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.29.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 27.83%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $255,905.13. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 52,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,100,399.70. This represents a 1.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total transaction of $608,108.04. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $202,702.68. The trade was a 75.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 147,991 shares of company stock worth $43,333,238. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Wedbush increased their target price 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. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $336.37.

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.