IPG Investment Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

IPG Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 24.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,023 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,157 shares during the period. Salesforce makes up 1.2% of IPG Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. IPG Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $5,363,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CRM. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,473 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $12,194,000 after purchasing an additional 4,752 shares in the last quarter. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter worth about $1,215,000. Athena Investment Management bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $236,000. Highland Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,321,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,395,132,000 after acquiring an additional 257,501 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on CRM shares. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. KeyCorp raised Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $362.74.

Salesforce Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $270.04 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $259.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.35. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $309.39 and a 200 day moving average of $311.13.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.42 dividend. This is a boost from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 26.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at $2,344,899.96. This trade represents a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 458 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total value of $141,050.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,805,936.08. This represents a 7.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,660 shares of company stock worth $14,095,336 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.