Exchange Bank Buys New Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Exchange Bank purchased a new position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 759 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC bought a new position in Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at about $220,000. Fermata Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce during the first quarter worth $418,000. Mechanics Bank Trust Department purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at $230,000. Annex Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 88,207 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $26,566,000 after acquiring an additional 6,382 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Central Valley Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 6,002 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,808,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.72, for a total transaction of $4,525,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,011,166 shares in the company, valued at $3,925,729,005.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Brian Millham sold 24,453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.08, for a total value of $7,386,762.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.72, for a total transaction of $4,525,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,011,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,925,729,005.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 541,787 shares of company stock worth $149,773,683 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on CRM shares. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $323.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $250.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Macquarie decreased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $330.00 to $275.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They issued a “sector weight” rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $292.79.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM stock traded down $0.16 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $241.60. The company had a trading volume of 1,568,975 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,866,713. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $261.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $276.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $234.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.25. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $193.68 and a 52 week high of $318.71.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.06. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The business had revenue of $9.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.15 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.15 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.