Eastern Bank Sells 1,683 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Eastern Bank trimmed its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 65,785 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 1,683 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $21,994,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Consilio Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Consilio Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,096 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $366,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Persium Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth $608,000. Claro Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 5,598 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,872,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Elmwood Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. Elmwood Wealth Management Inc. now owns 8,162 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,729,000 after purchasing an additional 1,539 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forza Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Salesforce by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,082 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $362,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the topic of several research reports. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Northland Securities reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $440.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $376.05.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $319.39 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $336.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $290.19. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The firm has a market cap of $305.66 billion, a PE ratio of 52.53, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.32%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, Director G Mason Morfit sold 722,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.11, for a total transaction of $249,995,253.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,192,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,104,786,234.99. This represents a 18.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $255,905.13. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,100,399.70. This trade represents a 1.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,177,617 shares of company stock valued at $403,542,975. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.