FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Buys 2,081 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH lifted its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 42.9% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,927 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,081 shares during the quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,859,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,955,353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,656,078,000 after purchasing an additional 175,035 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,453,872 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,163,703,000 after purchasing an additional 177,321 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Salesforce by 18.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,752,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,736,667 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,599,867,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Salesforce by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,938,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,988,422,000 after purchasing an additional 1,683,233 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on Salesforce from $320.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $370.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $346.34.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM opened at $258.25 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $268.09 and a 200 day moving average of $299.72. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $227.77 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market cap of $246.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.48, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.44 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be issued a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 25.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 3,273 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total value of $931,430.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 125,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,614,048.68. This represents a 2.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $137,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,711 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,220,525. This represents a 4.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 34,111 shares of company stock worth $9,299,283. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.