Kestra Investment Management LLC Takes Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 2,800 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $766,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Aviance Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.5% during the third quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,860,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Umpqua Bank grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 7,708 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,110,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 3,297 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $891,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Nvwm LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 1.4% in the third quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 2,565 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $667,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prentice Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 1.5% during the third quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,506 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $686,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Miguel Milano sold 719 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.81, for a total transaction of $246,480.39. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,597,151.79. This represents a 13.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 144,510 shares of company stock worth $42,475,538 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CRM. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $325.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $295.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Eight equities 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $341.89.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM opened at $329.99 on Monday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $348.86. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $302.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $270.49. The firm has a market cap of $315.47 billion, a PE ratio of 57.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 27.83%.

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.