First Financial Bank Trust Division Acquires Shares of 23,608 Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

First Financial Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 23,608 shares of the CRM provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,335,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Nvest Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Nvest Financial LLC now owns 2,806 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $938,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. OMC Financial Services LTD increased its holdings in Salesforce by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. OMC Financial Services LTD now owns 11,390 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 787 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Prossimo Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 3,366 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,125,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,457 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $487,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of CRM traded down $1.89 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $265.03. The company had a trading volume of 12,373,506 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,790,645. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $216.06 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $254.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.42. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $267.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $305.28.

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

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is a positive change from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is 25.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CRM. Westpark Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Salesforce from $367.00 to $350.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Guggenheim upgraded Salesforce from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Macquarie reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $342.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.37, for a total value of $1,725,518.77. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,967,047.50. This trade represents a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,273 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 $931,430.34. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 125,146 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $35,614,048.68. The trade was a 2.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 46,553 shares of company stock worth $12,897,323. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.