Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Has $719,000 Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. reduced its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 17.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,626 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 545 shares during the quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $719,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CRM. State Street Corp boosted its position in Salesforce by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $13,432,855,000 after buying an additional 864,193 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,395,132,000 after acquiring an additional 257,501 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 2.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,360,215,000 after acquiring an additional 314,530 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Salesforce by 2.2% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,141,562,000 after purchasing an additional 176,641 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Salesforce by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,632,599,000 after purchasing an additional 57,825 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.04, for a total transaction of $1,079,568.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,223,020.24. This trade represents a 3.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 138,498 shares of company stock valued at $40,983,349. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM opened at $358.19 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $314.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $274.42. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week high of $369.00. 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 market capitalization of $342.79 billion, a PE ratio of 58.91, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the subject of several analyst reports. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Phillip Securities reaffirmed an “accumulate” rating and set a $305.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, August 30th. UBS Group increased their price target on Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $375.50.

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.