Segment Wealth Management LLC Acquires 596 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Segment Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,538 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 596 shares during the quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,611,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. BLB&B Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 24.8% during the 3rd quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC now owns 44,537 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $12,190,000 after buying an additional 8,858 shares in the last quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 18.9% during the third quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,303 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $357,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the period. Pictet North America Advisors SA bought a new position in Salesforce in the third quarter valued at about $2,668,000. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. increased its position in Salesforce by 5.3% in the third quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. now owns 14,900 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,117,000 after purchasing an additional 744 shares during the period. Finally, Waldron Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,772 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,127,000 after purchasing an additional 919 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital reissued a “hold” rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Salesforce from $234.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Northland Capmk upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, FBN Securities upgraded Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $311.66.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director Maynard G. Webb, Jr. sold 9,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.32, for a total transaction of $2,533,854.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $376,624.16. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.22, for a total value of $675,416.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 117,581 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Maynard G. Webb, Jr. sold 9,170 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.32, for a total transaction of $2,533,854.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,363 shares in the company, valued at $376,624.16. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 85,502 shares of company stock worth $23,045,186 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $288.24 on Wednesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $193.68 and a twelve month 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $268.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $263.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $279.30 billion, a PE ratio of 51.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 28.78%.

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.