SGL Investment Advisors Inc. Boosts Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

SGL Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 738 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the quarter. SGL Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $241,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $3,599,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its position in Salesforce by 926.4% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,256,211 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,422,979,000 after acquiring an additional 3,841,521 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,173,564,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Salesforce by 42.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,791,015 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,604,770,000 after acquiring an additional 2,325,156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Salesforce by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,752,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,736,667 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CRM. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $405.00 to $393.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Loop Capital dropped their target price on Salesforce from $330.00 to $300.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Salesforce from $430.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price target on Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirty-two have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $352.62.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,909 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total transaction of $543,263.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,218,599.80. The trade was a 14.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 458 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total transaction of $141,050.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,805,936.08. This represents a 7.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,527 shares of company stock valued at $14,882,976 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $290.48 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $279.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $267.83 and a 200 day moving average of $307.08.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is an increase from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 26.10%.

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.