Nixon Peabody Trust Co. Has $17.25 Million Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Nixon Peabody Trust Co. lessened its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 18.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 64,259 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 14,095 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises about 1.5% of Nixon Peabody Trust Co.'s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Nixon Peabody Trust Co.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $17,245,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,955,353 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $6,656,078,000 after acquiring an additional 175,035 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,453,872 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $4,163,703,000 after purchasing an additional 177,321 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 18.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,752,830,000 after buying an additional 1,736,667 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $3,599,867,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Salesforce by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,938,536 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,988,422,000 after acquiring an additional 1,683,233 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on CRM shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Salesforce from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $420.00 to $275.00 in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $347.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $430.00 to $400.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $346.34.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.37, for a total transaction of $1,725,518.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 705 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.44, for a total transaction of $197,005.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,605,219.12. This represents a 7.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 40,332 shares of company stock valued at $11,024,802. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Salesforce Trading Up 1.4%

Salesforce stock traded up $3.64 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $266.81. The stock had a trading volume of 8,638,662 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,624,516. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $227.77 and a 12 month high of $369.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $266.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $303.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $255.07 billion, a PE ratio of 43.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.44 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This is an increase from Salesforce's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.98%.

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.