Smith Salley Wealth Management Increases Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Smith Salley Wealth Management boosted its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,024 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the period. Smith Salley Wealth Management’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,375,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CRM. Kathmere Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the first quarter valued at about $227,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 60.0% in the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,932 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,088,000 after buying an additional 2,599 shares during the period. Vicus Capital bought a new position in Salesforce in the 1st quarter worth approximately $556,000. Founders Financial Securities LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 3,257 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $981,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trilogy Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 1st quarter valued at $379,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $290.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $193.68 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71. The firm has a market cap of $281.46 billion, a PE ratio of 52.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $269.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $263.05.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, COO Brian Millham sold 969 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.56, for a total value of $277,676.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, COO Brian Millham sold 969 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.56, for a total transaction of $277,676.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.87, for a total transaction of $1,217,454.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 118,514 shares in the company, valued at $34,353,653.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 87,781 shares of company stock valued at $23,696,593 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Northland Securities upgraded Salesforce from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $270.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup upped their price target on Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have given 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 a consensus target price of $312.51.

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.