First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Has $1.50 Million Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 62.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,473 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,712 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,495,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Archford Capital Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC now owns 8,024 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,683,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC now owns 2,547 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $852,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 75.0% in the 4th quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 238 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 10,362 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,464,000 after acquiring an additional 807 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stewardship Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $222,000. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $18,156,600.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.23, for a total transaction of $145,115.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,888,236.38. This trade represents a 7.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,173,891 shares of company stock worth $402,840,388 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group raised their target price on Salesforce from $275.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Salesforce from $340.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 target price (up previously from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $377.63.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:CRM opened at $333.47 on Monday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.00 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $336.73 and a 200 day moving average of $294.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $319.13 billion, a PE ratio of 54.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.62 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is 26.32%.

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.