Cambridge Trust Co. Lowers Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Cambridge Trust Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 85,748 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 3,125 shares during the period. Cambridge Trust Co.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $22,564,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Fairfield Bush & CO. lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 8.7% during the first quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 4,468 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $949,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Roundview Capital LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 18.8% in the 1st quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 24,037 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,104,000 after acquiring an additional 3,809 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Salesforce by 42.8% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 621 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $132,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC purchased a new position in Salesforce in the 1st quarter worth approximately $455,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in Salesforce by 21.3% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 860,950 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $182,797,000 after acquiring an additional 151,440 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CRM. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Mizuho restated a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price objective (up from $325.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $307.87.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, insider R David Schmaier sold 3,910 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total value of $1,074,350.70. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,463 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,347,848.51. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 216 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.71, for a total value of $60,201.36. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $799,618.99. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 3,910 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.77, for a total transaction of $1,074,350.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,463 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,347,848.51. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 907,149 shares of company stock valued at $262,952,448. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

Salesforce stock traded down $5.32 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $271.00. The stock had a trading volume of 3,635,901 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,672,881. The firm has a market capitalization of $262.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $298.10 and its 200 day moving average is $260.89. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $190.57 and a one year high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The CRM provider reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 10.42%. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.52%.

About Salesforce

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.