Nixon Peabody Trust Co. Has $21.43 Million Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Nixon Peabody Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 0.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 78,304 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 568 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises 1.8% of Nixon Peabody Trust Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Nixon Peabody Trust Co.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $21,433,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Piscataqua Savings Bank lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2,400.0% in the second quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 100 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Clear Investment Research LLC grew its position in Salesforce by 816.7% during the 2nd quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 3,125.0% in the second quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 129 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Godsey & Gibb Inc. increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 300.0% in the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $18,156,600.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,970 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.74, for a total value of $1,178,057.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 119,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,431,349.48. This represents a 3.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 144,373 shares of company stock valued at $41,250,680 over the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on CRM shares. FBN Securities raised shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $335.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, August 29th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Salesforce from $305.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price target on Salesforce from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $322.51.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM traded down $1.65 on Monday, reaching $323.61. The company had a trading volume of 312,364 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,292,435. The company’s fifty day moving average is $286.61 and its 200 day moving average is $266.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market cap of $309.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.29. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.00 and a fifty-two week high of $348.86.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. Salesforce’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given 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 was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 27.83%.

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.