Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Raises Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 25.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 59,494 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,171 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $15,655,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,439,717 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $378,847,000 after buying an additional 54,809 shares in the last quarter. LWM Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $227,000. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. now owns 44,697 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $11,762,000 after purchasing an additional 893 shares during the last quarter. EWA LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. EWA LLC now owns 1,914 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $547,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, Naviter Wealth LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 5,932 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,561,000 after purchasing an additional 738 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.94, for a total value of $4,064,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,827,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,475,435,977.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.94, for a total value of $4,064,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,827,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,475,435,977.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 2,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total transaction of $893,934.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 60,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,687,877.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 610,793 shares of company stock worth $179,197,018 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of CRM stock traded up $1.57 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $275.86. 3,608,431 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,637,167. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $295.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $265.20. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $190.76 and a one year high of $318.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $267.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.28.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.01 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $342.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, April 15th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Salesforce from $265.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Argus raised their price objective on Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Salesforce from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.61.

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.