Principal Securities Inc. Sells 8,337 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

01 Nov 2024, 10:20 by Amy Steele · The Cerbat Gem

Principal Securities Inc. lessened its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Free Report) by 23.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,411 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 8,337 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $7,503,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 26.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,329,925,000 after acquiring an additional 3,044,611 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the 1st quarter worth $910,220,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Salesforce during the first quarter valued at $874,748,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Salesforce by 48.3% during the second 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 during the period. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its position in Salesforce by 376.1% in the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,442,453 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $370,873,000 after buying an additional 1,139,472 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Phillip Securities reaffirmed an “accumulate” rating and issued a $305.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, August 30th. 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. Raymond James upped their price target on Salesforce from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $335.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $313.37.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Salesforce

Salesforce Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $291.41 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $198.66 and a 12-month high of $318.71. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $272.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $263.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $278.59 billion, a PE ratio of 50.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 15.44%. The company’s 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 expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 27.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 1,400 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.62, for a total value of $352,268.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,585,731.22. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 148,303 shares of company stock worth $42,024,385. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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