JNBA Financial Advisors Has $482,000 Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

JNBA Financial Advisors grew its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 9.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,832 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. JNBA Financial Advisors’ holdings in Salesforce were worth $482,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,921,042 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,926,323,000 after buying an additional 752,566 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.1% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,195,108 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,270,144,000 after purchasing an additional 121,436 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,397,516 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,420,302,000 after purchasing an additional 145,625 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 7.1% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,678,330 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $948,676,000 after purchasing an additional 309,881 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1,254.7% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,483,670 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $916,693,000 after purchasing an additional 3,226,512 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CRM shares. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Salesforce from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Salesforce from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.61.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.3 %

CRM stock traded up $0.91 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $277.58. 2,998,447 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,438,188. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $193.68 and a 12 month high of $318.71. The company has a market cap of $268.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.09, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $291.39 and its 200-day moving average is $269.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The business’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.59, for a total transaction of $4,148,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,602,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,485,677,624.93. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total transaction of $662,388.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,599,566.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.59, for a total transaction of $4,148,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,602,327 shares in the company, valued at $3,485,677,624.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 614,193 shares of company stock valued at $178,936,148 in the last three months. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.