Lincoln National Corp Acquires 5,483 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Lincoln National Corp raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 27.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,808 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,483 shares during the quarter. Lincoln National Corp’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $6,791,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,921,042 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,926,323,000 after purchasing an additional 752,566 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Salesforce by 1.1% in the 3rd 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 position in shares of Salesforce by 0.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,251,891 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,064,978,000 after buying an additional 19,888 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 7.1% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,678,330 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $948,676,000 after purchasing an additional 309,881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 1,254.7% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,483,670 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $916,693,000 after buying an additional 3,226,512 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total transaction of $2,188,439.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,903,561.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total value of $2,188,439.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,903,561.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 942 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.46, for a total transaction of $287,743.32. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 39,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,040,011.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 619,993 shares of company stock worth $181,241,324. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:CRM traded up $1.97 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $275.63. 3,722,938 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,550,575. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $293.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $267.47. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $193.68 and a one year high of $318.71. The company has a market cap of $266.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The company’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.01 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $365.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Mizuho restated a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price target (up from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $342.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.61.

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.