Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Position Reduced by Commerce Bank

Commerce Bank trimmed its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 1.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 247,047 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 4,102 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank's holdings in Salesforce were worth $67,619,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $15,885,000 after purchasing an additional 6,938 shares during the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $3,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834 shares during the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd raised its holdings in Salesforce by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $6,577,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. raised its holdings in Salesforce by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 89,098 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $24,387,000 after purchasing an additional 10,656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XN LP raised its holdings in Salesforce by 24.2% during the 2nd quarter. XN LP now owns 464,489 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $119,420,000 after purchasing an additional 90,616 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $330.00 price objective (up previously from $300.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $295.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $342.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Roth Mkm reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $335.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Eight research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $326.19.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:CRM traded down $0.41 on Wednesday, hitting $323.02. 1,935,363 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,287,271. 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 quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $308.81 billion, a PE ratio of 56.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.29. The firm's 50-day moving average is $289.68 and its 200 day moving average is $267.31.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted 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 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 the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders 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 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $18,156,600.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total value of $608,108.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 828 shares in the company, valued at $202,702.68. This trade represents a 75.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 140,173 shares of company stock valued at $40,146,206 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

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.