First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Reduces Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lessened its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,761 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 247 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $756,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Salesforce by 35.9% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 11,610 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,985,000 after acquiring an additional 3,065 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 1.5% in the third quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,395 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,203,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in Salesforce by 0.5% in the third quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 196,896 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $53,892,000 after acquiring an additional 1,074 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co boosted its stake in Salesforce by 15.5% in the third quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 769 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $210,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 39.8% in the third quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,397 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $657,000 after acquiring an additional 683 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total transaction of $105,637.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,644,921.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total transaction of $105,637.14. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,644,921.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Maynard G. Webb, Jr. sold 9,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.32, for a total transaction of $2,533,854.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $376,624.16. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 78,575 shares of company stock valued at $20,923,258 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Cfra set a $343.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $234.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $311.66.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $292.94 on Monday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $193.68 and a 12-month high of $318.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market cap of $283.86 billion, a PE ratio of 52.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50-day moving average of $266.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $263.20.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.78%.

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.