Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. boosted its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 7.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,326 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 4,015 shares during the quarter. Salesforce accounts for approximately 1.2% of Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $15,384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $3,599,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 926.4% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,256,211 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,422,979,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841,521 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $1,173,564,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 42.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,791,015 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,604,770,000 after purchasing an additional 2,325,156 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,752,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,736,667 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of Salesforce from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $420.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $370.00 price objective (down from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Finally, 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $343.32.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.00, for a total transaction of $1,872,521.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,071,750. This trade represents a 11.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,909 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total transaction of $543,263.22. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,310 shares in the company, valued at $3,218,599.80. The trade was a 14.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 46,553 shares of company stock worth $12,897,323. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE:CRM traded down $1.89 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $265.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,373,506 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,790,605. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $216.06 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The firm's 50 day moving average is $267.31 and its 200-day moving average is $304.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market cap 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.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.44 EPS. Salesforce's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

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

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.