Boltwood Capital Management Sells 240 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Boltwood Capital Management trimmed its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,633 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 240 shares during the quarter. Boltwood Capital Management’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,637,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Salesforce by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,635,254 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $25,490,446,000 after buying an additional 1,008,841 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,905,462 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,922,223,000 after purchasing an additional 736,986 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 26.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,044,611 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,116,449 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,251,592,000 after purchasing an additional 407,834 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Salesforce by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,141,562,000 after purchasing an additional 176,641 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of CRM stock opened at $279.48 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $193.68 and a 12 month high of $318.71. The stock has a market cap of $270.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $257.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $264.75.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. The firm 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 was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.75, for a total transaction of $1,141,350.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 118,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,206,179.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.75, for a total value of $1,141,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 118,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,206,179.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 2,037 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.75, for a total value of $506,703.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 1,947 shares in the company, valued at $484,316.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 72,185 shares of company stock valued at $18,773,713. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $335.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, August 29th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Northland Securities upgraded Salesforce from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $270.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.74.

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.