Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. Increases Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. increased its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 89,098 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,656 shares during the quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $24,387,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Callahan Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 29,989 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $8,208,000 after purchasing an additional 1,909 shares during the last quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 29.3% during the third quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,042 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $833,000 after buying an additional 689 shares in the last quarter. Northstar Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.4% in the third quarter. Northstar Asset Management Inc. now owns 37,485 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $10,260,000 after buying an additional 873 shares during the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 44.0% in the third quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 2,202 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $603,000 after acquiring an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Financial Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 31.9% during the 3rd quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC now owns 2,172 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $594,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.23, for a total value of $145,115.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,506 shares in the company, valued at $1,888,236.38. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 146,003 shares of company stock worth $41,494,084. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of CRM stock opened at $303.50 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $274.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $263.56. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $208.84 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $290.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 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 the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. 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 firm posted $1.63 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. BNP Paribas raised shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Cfra set a $343.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $313.37.

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.