Citizens & Northern Corp Raises Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Citizens & Northern Corp boosted its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,036 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 232 shares during the quarter. Salesforce accounts for 0.8% of Citizens & Northern Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Citizens & Northern Corp’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,021,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its position in Salesforce by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $13,432,855,000 after purchasing an additional 864,193 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,395,132,000 after buying an additional 257,501 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,360,215,000 after acquiring an additional 314,530 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,632,599,000 after acquiring an additional 57,825 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Salesforce by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,912,854 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,618,407,000 after purchasing an additional 96,381 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.00, for a total transaction of $2,133,803.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 53,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,474,323. The trade was a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 14,808 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.95, for a total value of $5,019,171.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,111,420 shares of company stock worth $384,366,700. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $325.49 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $311.49 billion, a PE ratio of 53.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 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. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $336.56 and a 200-day moving average of $303.42. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $212.00 and a one year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. 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 0.49%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on CRM. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.63.

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.