Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Stake Increased by Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC

Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 19.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,732 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 286 shares during the quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $465,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 3,273 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total transaction of $931,430.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 125,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,614,048.68. This trade represents a 2.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,909 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total value of $543,263.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,310 shares in the company, valued at $3,218,599.80. This represents a 14.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,111 shares of company stock valued at $9,299,283 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of CRM opened at $263.63 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $227.77 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $252.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $268.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $299.25.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be issued a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Salesforce from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $346.34.

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.