Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Purchases 356 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 36.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,346 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 356 shares during the quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $450,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA raised its position in Salesforce by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA now owns 12,234 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,090,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Landing Point Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $210,000. Mirova lifted its position in Salesforce by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Mirova now owns 17,842 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,965,000 after purchasing an additional 2,758 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 170,816 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $57,109,000 after purchasing an additional 16,023 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ostrum Asset Management grew its position in Salesforce by 41.6% in the 4th quarter. Ostrum Asset Management now owns 7,299 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,440,000 after purchasing an additional 2,145 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on CRM shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Salesforce from $430.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. DA Davidson restated an “underperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $357.49.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $298,055.16. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,534,090. The trade was a 1.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,344,899.96. The trade was a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 47,654 shares of company stock worth $14,124,094 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $243.10 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $233.62 billion, a PE ratio of 39.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $277.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $308.98. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is a boost from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. Salesforce’s dividend 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.