Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Decreases Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. decreased its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 347 shares during the period. Salesforce accounts for 0.9% of Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $4,280,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Selective Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $7,348,000. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 48,487 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $10,243,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. New Hampshire Trust increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. New Hampshire Trust now owns 14,996 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,168,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. now owns 26,017 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,496,000 after purchasing an additional 1,215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 26.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,473 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $311,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.52% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 164 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.05, for a total transaction of $36,908.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $501,861.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.65, for a total transaction of $260,812.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 100,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,929,472.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 164 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.05, for a total transaction of $36,908.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $501,861.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 698,191 shares of company stock valued at $152,203,804. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $214.40 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market capitalization of $208.61 billion, a PE ratio of 134.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $218.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $206.68. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $126.34 and a twelve month high of $238.22.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 30th. The CRM provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.53 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 4.77% and a return on equity of 7.67%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 5.86 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $245.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 31st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 31st. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Salesforce from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $251.00 to $278.00 in a research note on Monday, July 31st. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 31st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $240.59.

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 relationship intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer service and support at scale.