Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Bought by Advisors Asset Management Inc.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 13.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,083 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,665 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $6,044,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Howe & Rusling Inc. acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 3rd quarter valued at $283,000. NS Partners Ltd raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.5% in the third quarter. NS Partners Ltd now owns 101,716 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $27,841,000 after buying an additional 2,434 shares during the last quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 29.3% in the third quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 4,283 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,172,000 after buying an additional 970 shares in the last quarter. Sachetta LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 5,505.1% during the third quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 10,986 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,007,000 after acquiring an additional 10,790 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,523 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,344,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total value of $608,108.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 828 shares in the company, valued at $202,702.68. This represents a 75.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total transaction of $1,178,057.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 119,402 shares in the company, valued at $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 133,183 shares of company stock worth $38,314,066 in the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $336.19 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $321.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.47, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $348.86. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $292.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $268.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. BNP Paribas upgraded Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $329.11.

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