Leelyn Smith LLC Purchases 496 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Leelyn Smith LLC lifted its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,677 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 496 shares during the period. Leelyn Smith LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,717,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,635,254 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $25,490,446,000 after buying an additional 1,008,841 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Salesforce by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,561,325 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,147,402,000 after purchasing an additional 457,463 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 5.2% during 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 during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted 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 purchasing an additional 3,044,611 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its position in Salesforce by 3.0% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,116,449 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,251,592,000 after purchasing an additional 407,834 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total value of $105,637.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,431 shares in the company, valued at $1,644,921.18. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 5,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.17, for a total transaction of $1,400,952.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 116,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,193,087.81. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total transaction of $105,637.14. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,644,921.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 62,376 shares of company stock worth $15,878,005. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on CRM. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $304.41.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $254.57 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $246.68 billion, a PE ratio of 45.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $193.68 and a 1-year high of $318.71. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $253.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $268.35.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.78%.

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.