Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Purchases 9,768 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC grew its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 72,993 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 9,768 shares during the period. Salesforce comprises about 1.3% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC's holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $19,979,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Salesforce by 26.9% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $4,329,925,000 after buying an additional 3,044,611 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 1st quarter valued at about $910,220,000. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Salesforce during the 1st quarter worth approximately $874,748,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Salesforce by 48.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,922,674 shares during the period. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its position in Salesforce by 110.3% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 3,394,912 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $893,336,000 after purchasing an additional 1,780,421 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on CRM. BNP Paribas raised shares of Salesforce to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $285.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Salesforce from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $345.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $315.00 price objective (up from $300.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $310.74.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.42, for a total transaction of $1,211,364.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 118,514 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $34,181,807.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total transaction of $608,108.04. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 828 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $202,702.68. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.42, for a total value of $1,211,364.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 118,514 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $34,181,807.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 80,612 shares of company stock worth $21,283,087. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Salesforce stock traded down $2.07 during trading on Friday, reaching $288.10. The company had a trading volume of 3,542,323 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,491,262. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $261.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $264.29. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $193.68 and a 52 week high of $318.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $275.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The company's revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce's payout ratio is 27.83%.

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.