CENTRAL TRUST Co Purchases 1,810 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 7.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,252 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 1,810 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co's holdings in Salesforce were worth $7,313,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 2.0%

CRM stock opened at $263.63 on Tuesday. 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 52 week low of $227.77 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $252.03 billion, a PE ratio of 43.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $268.49 and a 200 day moving average of $299.25.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The firm's revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.44 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be issued a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. Salesforce's payout ratio is 25.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on CRM. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Macquarie reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $346.34.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,909 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total value of $543,263.22. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,310 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,218,599.80. This trade represents a 14.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 6,959 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total value of $1,762,784.29. Following the sale, the insider now owns 36,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,141,957.90. This trade represents a 16.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 34,111 shares of company stock worth $9,299,283. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.