Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Acquired by Norway Savings Bank

Norway Savings Bank boosted its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 5.5% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,344 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 438 shares during the period. Norway Savings Bank’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,513,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Graypoint LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 10,504 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,764,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 10,377 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,730,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Salesforce by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $341,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Prentice Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,294 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $604,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on CRM. Barclays dropped their target price on Salesforce from $355.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $345.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Wedbush decreased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $292.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 5,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.17, for a total transaction of $1,400,952.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 116,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,193,087.81. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.42, for a total value of $4,581,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,981,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,964,707,719.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 5,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.17, for a total transaction of $1,400,952.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 116,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,193,087.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 547,387 shares of company stock worth $151,174,635. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.7 %

CRM opened at $257.10 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $249.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.25. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $259.79 and its 200-day moving average is $276.20. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $193.68 and a 52-week high of $318.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $9.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.15 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The business’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.15 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 7.19%.

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.