Hemenway Trust Co LLC Raises Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Hemenway Trust Co LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 712.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 21,897 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,202 shares during the period. Hemenway Trust Co LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $7,321,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Arlington Trust Co LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 85.1% in the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 87 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Collier Financial purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $240.26 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $302.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $311.00. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $230.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.52, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is a boost from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 26.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, Director Oscar Munoz acquired 3,882 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $257.28 per share, with a total value of $998,760.96. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 11,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,046,967.04. This represents a 48.76 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total transaction of $144,874.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. This represents a 5.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,660 shares of company stock worth $14,095,336 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on CRM. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Salesforce from $440.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Loop Capital dropped their target price on Salesforce from $330.00 to $300.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $361.42.

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.