Montecito Bank & Trust Increases Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Montecito Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 4.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,473 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,200,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new stake in Salesforce in the fourth quarter worth $236,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $8,582,000 after acquiring an additional 3,102 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter valued at about $104,173,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $611,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the period. Finally, ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new stake in Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,476,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM stock opened at $258.25 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $246.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.38. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $227.77 and a 52 week high of $369.00. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $268.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $299.72. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.44 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be given a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CRM shares. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Royal Bank of Canada cut Salesforce from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $420.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $404.00 price target (up previously from $393.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $346.34.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, insider R David Schmaier sold 1,785 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.34, for a total value of $514,686.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,416,644.60. This represents a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total value of $1,975,615.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 41,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,219,490. This represents a 13.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,111 shares of company stock valued at $9,299,283 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.