Exchange Bank Acquires New Shares in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Exchange Bank acquired a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 764 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Renaissance Investment Group LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 4.1% in the third quarter. Renaissance Investment Group LLC now owns 21,277 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,824,000 after purchasing an additional 840 shares during the period. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.2% during the third quarter. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC now owns 4,955 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,356,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 23.2% during the third quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 7,040 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,927,000 after acquiring an additional 1,326 shares during the period. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 11.3% during the third quarter. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 7,692 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,105,000 after acquiring an additional 780 shares during the period. Finally, Annex Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 9.0% during the third quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 75,685 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $20,716,000 after acquiring an additional 6,260 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Salesforce from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. UBS Group increased their target price on Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on Salesforce from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.74.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total value 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 represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.42, for a total value of $1,211,364.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 118,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,181,807.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 80,612 shares of company stock worth $21,283,087 in the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $288.10 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $193.68 and a twelve 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 $275.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $261.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $263.88.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.83%.

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.