Northern Financial Advisors Inc Grows Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Northern Financial Advisors Inc raised its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 26.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,041 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the period. Northern Financial Advisors Inc’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $537,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Concord Wealth Partners raised its holdings in Salesforce by 145.4% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 3,060 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $621,000 after acquiring an additional 1,813 shares in the last quarter. JB Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 51.6% in the 3rd quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 1,643 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $333,000 after acquiring an additional 559 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 21.7% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,839 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $373,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the period. Ocean Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ocean Capital Management LLC now owns 11,895 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,412,000 after buying an additional 1,321 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Calamos Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 1.6% in the third quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,412 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $692,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on CRM shares. StockNews.com downgraded Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, April 15th. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.61.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.45, for a total value of $4,131,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,662,327 shares in the company, valued at $3,487,837,972.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, COO Brian Millham sold 24,453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.08, for a total transaction of $7,386,762.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.45, for a total transaction of $4,131,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,662,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,487,837,972.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 619,993 shares of company stock valued at $181,048,574. 3.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.6 %

Salesforce stock traded up $1.57 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $278.75. The stock had a trading volume of 1,302,479 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,479,521. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $293.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $267.99. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $193.68 and a twelve month high of $318.71. The firm has a market cap of $269.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.59, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.52%.

Salesforce Company 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.