Trust Co. of Vermont Raises Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 17.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,008 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,433 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $14,713,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CRM. State Street Corp grew its stake in Salesforce by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $13,432,855,000 after purchasing an additional 864,193 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,395,132,000 after buying an additional 257,501 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,360,215,000 after purchasing an additional 314,530 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Salesforce by 2.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 176,641 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,632,599,000 after acquiring an additional 57,825 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.82, for a total transaction of $1,213,044.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 118,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,229,213.48. The trade was a 3.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.88, for a total value of $2,052,183.48. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 45,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,128,626.68. This trade represents a 11.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,183,838 shares of company stock worth $405,595,158 in the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of CRM traded up $4.77 on Friday, hitting $324.77. 6,283,814 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,604,853. The firm has a market capitalization of $310.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $337.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $291.08.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Northland Capmk upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Guggenheim cut Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. KeyCorp upgraded Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.63.

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.