World Investment Advisors Boosts Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

World Investment Advisors boosted its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 14.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 62,407 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,961 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Salesforce were worth $20,864,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. United Bank increased its stake in Salesforce by 1.1% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 7,303 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,999,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 367,016 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $100,386,000 after buying an additional 17,955 shares during the period. Ingalls & Snyder LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 7,534 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,062,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 37.5% during the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,539 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,985,000 after acquiring an additional 3,967 shares during the period. Finally, Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 4,854.2% in the third quarter. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC now owns 43,597 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $11,933,000 after acquiring an additional 42,717 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE CRM opened at $272.06 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $305.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $311.50. The company has a market capitalization of $261.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.35. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. This is an increase from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.10%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. This trade represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Millham sold 3,937 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total value of $1,120,391.46. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 5,518 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,570,312.44. This represents a 41.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,660 shares of company stock valued at $14,095,336 over the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $300.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Salesforce from $345.00 to $310.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $361.42.

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.