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

Citizens & Northern Corp lowered its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,674 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 502 shares during the quarter. Salesforce accounts for 1.0% of Citizens & Northern Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Citizens & Northern Corp’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,809,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FineMark National Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 215.9% during the fourth quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust now owns 9,108 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,397,000 after purchasing an additional 6,225 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank increased its stake in Salesforce by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 36,968 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $9,728,000 after buying an additional 1,771 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 133,842 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $35,219,000 after buying an additional 5,152 shares in the last quarter. BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth approximately $268,000. Finally, Balboa Wealth Partners lifted its position in Salesforce by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 1,381 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock traded down $6.13 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $277.69. 3,914,763 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,295,834. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $287.88 and its 200-day moving average is $273.68. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $193.68 and a 12 month high of $318.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market cap of $268.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.93, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on CRM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective (up from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, April 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. StockNews.com cut Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.39, for a total transaction of $4,400,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,386,166 shares in the company, valued at $3,927,367,242.74. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.39, for a total value of $4,400,850.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,386,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,927,367,242.74. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.20, for a total value of $1,197,840.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 115,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,015,322.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 630,182 shares of company stock valued at $183,257,351. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.