Nixon Peabody Trust Co. Increases Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Nixon Peabody Trust Co. increased its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 543.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 77,292 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 65,274 shares during the period. Salesforce comprises 2.3% of Nixon Peabody Trust Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Nixon Peabody Trust Co.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $20,339,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Graypoint LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 10,504 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,764,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Chase Investment Counsel Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 10,377 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,730,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $93,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $341,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prentice Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,294 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $604,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CRM shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price objective (up from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.94.

Salesforce Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:CRM traded down $6.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $272.29. 8,059,239 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,342,703. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $287.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $273.71. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $193.68 and a 1 year high of $318.71. The firm has a market cap of $263.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.52%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total value of $662,388.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,856 shares in the company, valued at $1,599,566.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 7,075 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.32, for a total value of $2,188,439.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,903,561.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total transaction of $662,388.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,599,566.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 636,344 shares of company stock worth $184,877,874. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Salesforce 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.