Fifth Third Bancorp Acquires 4,624 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 1.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 250,968 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 4,624 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in Salesforce were worth $75,587,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. now owns 4,075 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $826,000 after buying an additional 440 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 2,885 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $585,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 35,960 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $7,292,000 after buying an additional 4,313 shares during the period. First United Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. First United Bank & Trust now owns 4,182 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $848,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, Talbot Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 56,266 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $11,410,000 after buying an additional 812 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM traded up $3.44 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $272.13. 3,646,316 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,589,559. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $294.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $265.72. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.76 and a 52 week high of $318.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $263.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.06. Salesforce had a return on equity of 10.42% and a net margin of 11.87%. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. The company's revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Argus lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $345.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $310.61.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.53, for a total value of $4,042,950.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 12,707,327 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,425,005,846.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.53, for a total transaction of $4,042,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,707,327 shares in the company, valued at $3,425,005,846.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 24,453 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.08, for a total transaction of $7,386,762.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 629,993 shares of company stock worth $184,255,474 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.

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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