Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. Has $8.35 Million Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 3.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,500 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 945 shares during the period. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $8,348,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.2% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,141,562,000 after buying an additional 176,641 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,632,599,000 after buying an additional 57,825 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,912,854 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,618,407,000 after buying an additional 96,381 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 25.1% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,378,826 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,125,331,000 after buying an additional 877,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ValueAct Holdings L.P. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 12.3% in the second quarter. ValueAct Holdings L.P. now owns 3,914,309 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,006,369,000 after buying an additional 428,000 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $255,905.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 52,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,100,399.70. This represents a 1.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,528 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.59, for a total value of $884,081.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,464,622.79. This represents a 2.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 147,991 shares of company stock valued at $43,333,238 over the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on CRM shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Phillip Securities reaffirmed an “accumulate” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Raymond James lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $336.37.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $342.02 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market cap of $326.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.48, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $348.86. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $294.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $268.60.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.83%.

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.