Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Grows Stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 5.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 72,249 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,735 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $19,389,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fountainhead AM LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 13.4% in the first quarter. Fountainhead AM LLC now owns 2,920 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $784,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the period. Csenge Advisory Group grew its holdings in Salesforce by 2.3% in the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 3,887 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $961,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. St. Louis Trust Co purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the first quarter worth about $202,000. Formidable Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 8.8% in the first quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC now owns 3,513 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $943,000 after buying an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 10.6% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 77,943 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $20,917,000 after purchasing an additional 7,490 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:CRM traded up $2.52 on Friday, reaching $262.40. 6,376,432 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,555,507. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $250.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.36. Salesforce Inc. has a 52 week low of $230.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $270.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $286.50.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.44 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were given a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.98%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.48, for a total transaction of $613,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,862,457 shares in the company, valued at $3,232,282,283.36. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,525 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.66, for a total transaction of $386,831.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 12,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,097,442.26. This represents a 11.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 33,819 shares of company stock valued at $9,111,823. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CRM shares. DA Davidson reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Westpark Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $320.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Salesforce from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $348.16.

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.