St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC Grows Stock Position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC increased its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,394 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,716,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Athena Investment Management purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $236,000. Jag Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 2,507.9% during the fourth quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 23,706 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $7,926,000 after buying an additional 22,797 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 27,358 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $9,146,000 after purchasing an additional 723 shares during the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $823,000. Finally, Heartland Bank & Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 117.2% during the first quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co now owns 5,981 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,605,000 after purchasing an additional 3,227 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Westpark Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Mizuho cut their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered shares of Salesforce from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $420.00 to $275.00 in a report on Thursday, May 29th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Salesforce from $367.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $349.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, insider R David Schmaier sold 6,959 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total transaction of $1,762,784.29. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,141,957.90. The trade was a 16.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Brian Millham sold 979 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.66, for a total transaction of $248,333.14. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,487 shares in the company, valued at $1,645,492.42. This trade represents a 13.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,992 shares of company stock valued at $6,704,198 in the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE:CRM opened at $263.14 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $251.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $268.69 and a 200-day moving average of $296.11. Salesforce Inc. has a 1 year low of $230.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.44 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be given a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.98%.

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.