Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC Purchases New Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

11 Oct 2024, 19:40 by Teresa Graham · The Cerbat Gem

Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,897 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,136,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CRM. Governors Lane LP boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 34.3% in the 4th quarter. Governors Lane LP now owns 114,803 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $30,209,000 after purchasing an additional 29,300 shares during the period. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,607 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $686,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth approximately $10,723,000. Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $1,497,000. Finally, First County Bank CT raised its position in Salesforce by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. First County Bank CT now owns 7,044 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,854,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Salesforce from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, August 26th. Piper Sandler raised Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $268.00 to $325.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.74.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on CRM

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.22, for a total transaction of $675,416.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,362,888.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 6,431 shares in the company, valued at $1,644,921.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 2,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.22, for a total transaction of $675,416.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,362,888.82. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 80,612 shares of company stock valued at $21,283,087 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of CRM opened at $290.17 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $277.40 billion, a PE ratio of 50.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $193.68 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company’s fifty day moving average is $261.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $264.29.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The firm had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.83%.

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