Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Sold by Private Trust Co. NA

Private Trust Co. NA lessened its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,696 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 430 shares during the quarter. Private Trust Co. NA’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,380,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 34.0% during the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 2,150 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $648,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares during the period. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 59.2% during the 1st quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,258 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 134.0% during the 1st quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 9,663 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,910,000 after acquiring an additional 5,534 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 3.4% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 648,753 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $195,189,000 after purchasing an additional 21,298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Interval Partners LP raised its holdings in Salesforce by 157.1% during the first quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 36,000 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $10,842,000 after purchasing an additional 22,000 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CRM. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $305.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $295.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, JMP Securities increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $342.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $337.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This trade represents a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total value of $608,108.04. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,702.68. The trade was a 75.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 147,991 shares of company stock valued at $43,333,238 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.4 %

Salesforce stock traded up $1.40 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $343.42. The stock had a trading volume of 1,144,933 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,277,191. The stock has a market capitalization of $328.31 billion, a PE ratio of 59.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $294.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $268.53. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $348.86.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $9.33 billion for 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 revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.83%.

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.