JNBA Financial Advisors Acquires 2,564 Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

JNBA Financial Advisors grew its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 145.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,327 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,564 shares during the quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors' holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,161,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kampmann Melissa S. increased its position in Salesforce by 1.8% during the first quarter. Kampmann Melissa S. now owns 8,609 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,310,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 198.7% during the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 10,235 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,747,000 after acquiring an additional 6,809 shares during the period. Alta Advisers Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 56.8% during the 1st quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd now owns 4,970 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,334,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. Hixon Zuercher LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Hixon Zuercher LLC now owns 14,291 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,835,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. Finally, Sage Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at $359,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total value of $1,975,615.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 41,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,219,490. The trade was a 13.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 6,959 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total value of $1,762,784.29. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 36,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,141,957.90. The trade was a 16.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 28,534 shares of company stock worth $7,609,842 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of CRM stock traded down $2.85 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $269.06. 6,075,671 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,542,768. The company has a market cap of $257.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $271.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $293.08. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $230.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.44 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be issued a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. Salesforce's payout ratio is 25.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on CRM. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $367.00 to $350.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Stephens lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $349.08.

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.