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

Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 13.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,446 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the period. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $484,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 85.1% during the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Collier Financial acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $309.54 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $333.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $305.25. The firm 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.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total transaction of $109,965,671.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 719 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.81, for a total transaction of $246,480.39. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,597,151.79. This trade represents a 13.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,102,833 shares of company stock worth $381,389,136 in the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Erste Group Bank raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-two have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.53.

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.