Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. Lowers Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. lessened its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,393 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 43 shares during the period. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $655,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CRM. Piscataqua Savings Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2,400.0% during the second quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 100 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 816.7% during the 2nd quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 3,125.0% during the 2nd quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 129 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Godsey & Gibb Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 300.0% in the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Salesforce from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $234.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. UBS Group increased their target price on Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $326.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total value of $1,178,057.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 119,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,431,349.48. The trade was a 3.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 136,117 shares of company stock worth $39,085,562. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $325.70 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $348.86. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $291.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $267.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $311.37 billion, a PE ratio of 56.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.29.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 27.83%.

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.