WASHINGTON TRUST Co Grows Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 73,177 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,410 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $19,256,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 21,757 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,725,000 after purchasing an additional 885 shares during the last quarter. West Oak Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 23.9% during the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 725 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $197,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 5,622 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,479,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 30,064 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $7,911,000 after acquiring an additional 583 shares during the period. Finally, First Pacific Financial increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 7,462 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,964,000 after acquiring an additional 1,420 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Brian Millham sold 293,965 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $82,310,200.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 265,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.15, for a total value of $70,529,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,206,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,780,971,080.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 293,965 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $82,310,200.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,159,307 shares of company stock worth $324,535,513. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Salesforce stock traded down $5.21 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $300.62. The company had a trading volume of 2,311,532 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,751,352. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $187.31 and a 12-month high of $318.71. The company’s fifty day moving average is $292.85 and its 200-day moving average is $251.18. The company has a market capitalization of $291.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.28.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 13th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They set a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Salesforce from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded Salesforce from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $315.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 18th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $304.32.

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.