Trust Co. of Vermont Grows Position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 6.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 46,655 shares of the CRM provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,647 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont's holdings in Salesforce were worth $12,520,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,599,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its position in Salesforce by 926.4% in 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 worth $1,422,979,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841,521 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 30,456.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,801,588 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,020,194,000 after purchasing an additional 3,789,147 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at $1,173,564,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 42.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,791,015 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,604,770,000 after buying an additional 2,325,156 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $404.00 price target (up previously from $393.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, May 29th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $367.00 to $350.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Salesforce from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Barclays decreased their price target on Salesforce from $425.00 to $347.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Two equities research 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $349.08.

Insider Activity

In other Salesforce news, CEO Brian Millham sold 979 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.66, for a total transaction of $248,333.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,487 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,645,492.42. The trade was a 13.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 6,959 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total value of $1,762,784.29. Following the sale, the insider now owns 36,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,141,957.90. The trade was a 16.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 26,284 shares of company stock worth $6,996,762 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $270.50 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $269.86 and its 200 day moving average is $295.19. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $230.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company has a market cap of $258.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.33, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.38.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The company's revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.44 EPS. Research analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Salesforce's payout ratio is 25.98%.

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.

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