First County Bank CT Sells 256 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

First County Bank CT lowered its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,026 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 256 shares during the period. First County Bank CT’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,649,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,141,562,000 after purchasing an additional 176,641 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,632,599,000 after buying an additional 57,825 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,912,854 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,618,407,000 after acquiring an additional 96,381 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 25.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,378,826 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,125,331,000 after acquiring an additional 877,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ValueAct Holdings L.P. lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 12.3% in the 2nd quarter. ValueAct Holdings L.P. now owns 3,914,309 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,006,369,000 after purchasing an additional 428,000 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares in the company, valued at $1,998,741.74. This represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total value of $1,178,057.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 119,402 shares in the company, valued at $35,431,349.48. This trade represents a 3.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 133,183 shares of company stock worth $38,314,066. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $336.19 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $348.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $321.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $292.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $268.20.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 27.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. BNP Paribas raised Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Salesforce from $305.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Erste Group Bank raised Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $329.11.

Salesforce Company 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.