M&T Bank Corp Trims Position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

M&T Bank Corp lessened its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 8.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 175,840 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 16,612 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Salesforce were worth $47,188,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,035 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Seven Mile Advisory grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 1,762 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $589,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.2% in the first quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 3,165 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $849,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.6% in the first quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 2,571 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $654,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC now owns 834 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.82, for a total transaction of $609,345.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 11,862,457 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,212,590,604.74. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 1,269 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total transaction of $332,922.15. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,678 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,196,573.30. This trade represents a 2.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,034 shares of company stock worth $8,833,235 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock traded down $2.55 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $271.10. The company had a trading volume of 6,371,001 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,540,673. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $272.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $290.51. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $230.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $259.17 billion, a PE ratio of 42.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.44 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be paid a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $347.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Guggenheim raised shares of Salesforce from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $349.08.

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.