Commerce Bank lowered its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 1.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 247,047 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 4,102 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank's holdings in Salesforce were worth $67,619,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Salesforce by 26.9% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $4,329,925,000 after purchasing an additional 3,044,611 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Salesforce during the first quarter worth about $874,748,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $733,805,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 48.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,906,877 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,518,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922,674 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 376.1% in the 2nd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,442,453 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $370,873,000 after purchasing an additional 1,139,472 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.
Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CRM. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Salesforce from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued a $315.00 price target (up previously from $300.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Phillip Securities restated an "accumulate" rating and set a $305.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, August 30th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $342.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Cfra set a $343.00 price target on Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $325.36.
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CRM opened at $323.29 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $309.07 billion, a PE ratio of 56.22, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50 day moving average of $289.68 and a 200-day moving average of $267.31. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $348.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Salesforce's payout ratio is 27.83%.
In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,100,399.70. The trade was a 1.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total value of $1,178,057.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 119,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $35,431,349.48. This represents a 3.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 140,173 shares of company stock valued at $40,146,206 in the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
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.
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