Passumpsic Savings Bank Decreases Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Passumpsic Savings Bank lowered its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,163 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 169 shares during the period. Passumpsic Savings Bank’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $2,395,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 23,664.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,002,848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $274,490,000 after purchasing an additional 998,628 shares during the last quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 807 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 15,169 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $4,152,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC lifted its position in Salesforce by 1,566.7% in the third quarter. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC now owns 25,000 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $6,843,000 after acquiring an additional 23,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Capital Group California Inc. lifted its position in Salesforce by 62.7% in the third quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 3,619 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $991,000 after acquiring an additional 1,395 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on CRM shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $390.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-two have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $375.53.

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $309.54 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $333.34 and a 200-day moving average of $305.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $296.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.91, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.31. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). The firm 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 for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total value of $109,965,671.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. This trade represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 719 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.81, for a total value of $246,480.39. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 4,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,597,151.79. This represents a 13.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,102,833 shares of company stock worth $381,389,136 in the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Salesforce

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.