Kovack Advisors Inc. Has $3.37 Million Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 9.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,073 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 860 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,368,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nvest Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Nvest Financial LLC now owns 2,806 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $938,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. OMC Financial Services LTD boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. OMC Financial Services LTD now owns 11,390 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 787 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $263,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Sachetta LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 11,018 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,684,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, Prossimo Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 3,366 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,125,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.00, for a total transaction of $2,133,803.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,474,323. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,344,899.96. This represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,102,572 shares of company stock valued at $381,283,706 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CRM. Northland Securities reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 target price (up previously from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $415.00 price target (up previously from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price target (up previously from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded shares of Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $374.47.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $307.19 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $330.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $306.97. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $293.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.31. 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 (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 26.32%.

Salesforce Company 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.