Kovack Advisors Inc. Has $2.52 Million Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 22.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,213 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,690 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,522,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Umpqua Bank increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 7,708 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,110,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Nvwm LLC increased its stake in Salesforce by 1.4% in the third quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 2,565 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $667,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 1.5% during the third quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,506 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $686,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 11.6% during the third quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 357 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 4,946 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,490,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE CRM traded up $5.73 on Wednesday, reaching $346.88. 1,134,340 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,284,035. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $281.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $265.31. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $348.86. The company has a market cap of $331.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.29.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $18,156,600.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Salesforce news, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $18,156,600.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 2,934 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.95, for a total transaction of $771,495.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $977,122.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 144,373 shares of company stock worth $41,250,680. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Northland Capmk upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $316.37.

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.