First County Bank CT Reduces Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

First County Bank CT decreased its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 19.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,867 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 1,159 shares during the quarter. Salesforce makes up 0.9% of First County Bank CT’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. First County Bank CT’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,627,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 421.9% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 165,858 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $42,633,000 after acquiring an additional 134,079 shares during the last quarter. Adapt Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 34.6% during the 2nd quarter. Adapt Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,263 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $325,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the period. HCR Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 5.0% during the second quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors now owns 1,238 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 22.4% in the second quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 15,891 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,086,000 after purchasing an additional 2,912 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 14.3% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 97,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $25,077,000 after buying an additional 12,227 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp raised shares of Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Bank of America upped their target price on Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Guggenheim lowered shares of Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $375.39.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM traded down $6.26 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $324.27. The stock had a trading volume of 3,089,266 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,419,898. The firm has a market capitalization of $310.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.33, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $333.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $287.43. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business earned $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is 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 (DPR) is 26.32%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total value of $117,824.77. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 1,785 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.00, for a total value of $614,040.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,575,904. The trade was a 8.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,181,817 shares of company stock valued at $404,760,429. 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.