HBW Advisory Services LLC Sells 2,498 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

HBW Advisory Services LLC cut its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 13.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,172 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 2,498 shares during the quarter. Salesforce accounts for about 0.6% of HBW Advisory Services LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. HBW Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $4,427,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 66.3% during the 4th quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management now owns 1,567 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $412,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 7,160 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,983,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. XN LP grew its position in Salesforce by 24.2% during the second quarter. XN LP now owns 464,489 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $119,420,000 after buying an additional 90,616 shares during the period. M&G Plc bought a new position in Salesforce in the first quarter worth approximately $2,178,000. Finally, First Foundation Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 38.0% during the 1st quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 828 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $249,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.90, for a total value of $1,070,580.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 116,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,745,045.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.90, for a total transaction of $1,070,580.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 116,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,745,045.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 8,427 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $2,359,560.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 80,612 shares of company stock valued at $21,133,273 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of Salesforce stock traded up $5.29 on Friday, reaching $286.20. The company had a trading volume of 3,488,036 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,529,776. 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 firm has a market cap of $277.33 billion, a PE ratio of 50.94, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $258.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $264.86. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $193.68 and a 52-week high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on CRM. FBN Securities raised Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Piper Sandler upgraded Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $268.00 to $325.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.74.

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.