Avantax Planning Partners Inc. Increases Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Avantax Planning Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,630 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 216 shares during the quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,214,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. United Bank increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 7,303 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,999,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,128 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,130,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 6,704 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,835,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,086 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,392,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,801 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $7,062,000 after purchasing an additional 1,434 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 27th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. KeyCorp upgraded Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Salesforce from $345.00 to $310.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $365.62.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $277.40 on Wednesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $321.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $309.03. 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 market cap of $266.58 billion, a PE ratio of 45.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.35.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. This represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total value of $109,965,671.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,217,696,838.46. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,108,793 shares of company stock worth $383,156,227. 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.