Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC Has $484,000 Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 13.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,446 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 171 shares during the period. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $484,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $87,000. Bank of Stockton raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 1,369 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $458,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 42.1% during the 4th quarter. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC now owns 9,450 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,159,000 after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares in the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 54.8% in the 4th quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,204 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $403,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the period. Finally, Compass Capital Corp MA ADV bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $206,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CRM. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. TD Cowen raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Macquarie reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-two have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.53.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $309.54 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $296.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.91, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $333.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $305.25.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.62 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.18, for a total value of $2,041,607.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,342,415. The trade was a 11.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total value of $249,995,253.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,192,009 shares in the company, valued at $1,104,786,234.99. This represents a 18.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,102,833 shares of company stock valued at $381,389,136. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce 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.