JNBA Financial Advisors Purchases 201 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

JNBA Financial Advisors raised its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 12.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,763 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors’ holdings in Salesforce were worth $589,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 4,752 shares during the last quarter. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the third quarter worth $1,215,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 13.6% during the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $15,885,000 after purchasing an additional 6,938 shares during the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 16.1% during the third quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 13,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834 shares during the period. Finally, AIA Group Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 8.9% in the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 24,028 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $6,577,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.3 %

Salesforce stock opened at $325.49 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $336.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $302.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $311.49 billion, a PE ratio of 53.53, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total transaction of $109,965,671.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,217,696,838.46. This trade represents a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.94, for a total value of $2,089,882.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,705,195. This represents a 11.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock worth $384,366,700 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on CRM. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. KeyCorp raised Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. TD Cowen raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.63.

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.