Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Acquired by Park National Corp OH

Park National Corp OH lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 2.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 103,631 shares of the CRM provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,598 shares during the quarter. Park National Corp OH's holdings in Salesforce were worth $27,810,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CRM. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,955,353 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $6,656,078,000 after purchasing an additional 175,035 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,453,872 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $4,163,703,000 after purchasing an additional 177,321 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Salesforce by 18.3% in 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 buying an additional 1,736,667 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $3,599,867,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,938,536 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,988,422,000 after buying an additional 1,683,233 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM traded down $1.89 during mid-day 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 6,790,645. 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 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $267.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $305.28.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion during 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%. Salesforce's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.44 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered Salesforce from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $420.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $375.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Westpark Capital reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $320.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $342.21.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total value of $1,975,615.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 41,422 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,219,490. This represents a 13.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 46,553 shares of company stock worth $12,897,323. 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.