Central Bank & Trust Co. Purchases 207 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Central Bank & Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 3.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,535 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,754,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 85.1% in the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total transaction of $1,975,615.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 41,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,219,490. The trade was a 13.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction 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 approximately $3,220,525. The trade was a 4.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 40,332 shares of company stock worth $11,024,802 over the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on CRM. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $370.00 price target (down previously from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim upgraded Salesforce from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $346.34.

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock opened at $274.48 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $262.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $266.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $302.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $227.77 and a 1 year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.44 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

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.