Ballast Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Ballast Inc. trimmed its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,132 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 234 shares during the period. Ballast Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,716,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aviance Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,860,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. EWA LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 1.7% during the third quarter. EWA LLC now owns 2,001 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $548,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Umpqua Bank lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 7,708 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,110,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 3,297 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $891,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nvwm LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 2,565 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $667,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.82, for a total value of $1,213,044.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 118,514 shares in the company, valued at $34,229,213.48. This trade represents a 3.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares in the company, 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. Insiders sold 1,183,838 shares of company stock worth $405,595,158 in the last quarter. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Cfra set a $343.00 price objective on Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group increased their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $377.63.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of CRM opened at $324.77 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00. The stock has a market cap of $310.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $337.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $291.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.62 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

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.