Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV Grows Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV raised its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,810 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,277,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. RBA Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 3.7% in the third quarter. RBA Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,172 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,426,000 after acquiring an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 233,743 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $63,978,000 after buying an additional 17,350 shares in the last quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 35.5% during the 3rd quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 2,216 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $607,000 after buying an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 999 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $273,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sax Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 102.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,899 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $520,000 after buying an additional 962 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the 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 $167,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,202,758.58. This represents a 7.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total value of $109,965,671.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. This represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock valued at $384,366,700 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on CRM. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.63.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of CRM stock opened at $325.49 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $336.56 and a 200 day moving average of $302.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $311.49 billion, a PE ratio of 53.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31. 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.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly 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). The business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

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.