Independent Advisor Alliance Boosts Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 6.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,103 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,107 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $9,608,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $15,885,000 after buying an additional 6,938 shares during the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 16.1% in the third quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 8.9% during the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $6,577,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962 shares during the period. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 89,098 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $24,387,000 after buying an additional 10,656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XN LP boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 24.2% in the 2nd quarter. XN LP now owns 464,489 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $119,420,000 after buying an additional 90,616 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Northland Securities upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $270.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. FBN Securities raised Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Salesforce from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $336.37.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Brian Millham sold 14,808 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.95, for a total value of $5,019,171.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.04, for a total value of $1,251,768.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 119,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,586,572.08. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 147,991 shares of company stock valued at $43,333,238. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of CRM stock opened at $342.02 on Monday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $348.86. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $294.61 and a 200-day moving average of $268.53. The firm has a market cap of $326.97 billion, a PE ratio of 59.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.