CHICAGO TRUST Co NA Boosts Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

CHICAGO TRUST Co NA raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 23.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 7,040 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,326 shares during the quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,927,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,635,254 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $25,490,446,000 after buying an additional 1,008,841 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,905,462 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,922,223,000 after acquiring an additional 736,986 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 26.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,376,536 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,329,925,000 after purchasing an additional 3,044,611 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,116,449 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,251,592,000 after purchasing an additional 407,834 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Salesforce by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,329,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,141,562,000 after purchasing an additional 176,641 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total value of $105,637.14. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,644,921.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Sabastian Niles sold 2,484 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.81, for a total value of $608,108.04. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,702.68. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total value of $105,637.14. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,644,921.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 80,612 shares of company stock valued at $21,283,087 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.7 %

CRM stock opened at $288.10 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $261.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $263.88. The company has a market cap of $275.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $193.68 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Northland Securities raised Salesforce from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $270.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Loop Capital reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, September 19th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.74.

Salesforce 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.