Voya Financial Advisors Inc. Has $2.58 Million Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Voya Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 9,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 798 shares during the quarter. Voya Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,578,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake in Salesforce by 1.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $13,432,855,000 after acquiring an additional 864,193 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 2.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,360,215,000 after acquiring an additional 314,530 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Salesforce by 2.2% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,141,562,000 after acquiring an additional 176,641 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Salesforce by 1.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,632,599,000 after acquiring an additional 57,825 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Salesforce by 1.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,912,854 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,618,407,000 after acquiring an additional 96,381 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.04, for a total transaction of $1,079,568.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,223,020.24. The trade was a 3.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total value of $608,108.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,702.68. The trade was a 75.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 140,982 shares of company stock worth $41,591,457. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.8 %

NYSE:CRM opened at $361.14 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $345.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $308.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $272.43. 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 posted its quarterly 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). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.31% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on CRM shares. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday. Cfra set a $343.00 target price on Salesforce in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $372.86.

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.