CNB Bank Acquires 301 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

CNB Bank lifted its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 6.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,701 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 301 shares during the period. CNB Bank’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,572,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $13,432,855,000 after buying an additional 864,193 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,395,132,000 after purchasing an additional 257,501 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,360,215,000 after purchasing an additional 314,530 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,141,562,000 after purchasing an additional 176,641 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,632,599,000 after buying an additional 57,825 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on Salesforce from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.63.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock opened at $324.71 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $337.05 and its 200 day moving average is $290.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $310.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.45, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00. 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 (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.88, for a total transaction of $2,052,183.48. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,861 shares in the company, valued at $15,128,626.68. This trade represents a 11.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.82, for a total value of $1,213,044.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 118,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,229,213.48. The trade was a 3.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,183,838 shares of company stock worth $405,595,158. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.