Prospera Financial Services Inc Purchases 4,047 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 54,791 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,047 shares during the quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $14,998,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 67.3% in the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 666 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $182,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Belmont Capital LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 203.2% in the third quarter. Belmont Capital LLC now owns 6,570 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,798,000 after purchasing an additional 4,403 shares in the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 0.5% in the third quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,860,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Baron Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 13.4% during the third quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,676 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,006,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Joseph Group Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 35.0% in the 3rd quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management now owns 9,696 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,654,000 after buying an additional 2,515 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total transaction of $608,108.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 828 shares in the company, valued at $202,702.68. This trade represents a 75.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 4,056 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.50, for a total value of $1,060,644.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 140,173 shares of company stock valued at $40,146,206 in the last three months. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $322.25 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $288.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $266.96. The company has a market cap of $308.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.04, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $348.86. 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 (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The firm had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 27.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $335.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Cfra set a $343.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Nine 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $325.36.

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.