Eastern Bank Has $21.99 Million Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Eastern Bank reduced its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 65,785 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 1,683 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $21,994,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp increased its position in Salesforce by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,007,404 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $13,432,855,000 after acquiring an additional 864,193 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,780,318 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $5,395,132,000 after acquiring an additional 257,501 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,276,551 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $3,360,215,000 after acquiring an additional 314,530 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased 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 valued at $2,141,562,000 after acquiring an additional 176,641 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,964,702 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,632,599,000 after buying an additional 57,825 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $255,905.13. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,930 shares in the company, valued at $15,100,399.70. The trade was a 1.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,177,617 shares of company stock valued at $403,542,975. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price objective (up from $380.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Guggenheim cut shares of Salesforce from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $247.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $376.05.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM opened at $319.39 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $305.66 billion, a price-to-earnings 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $336.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $290.19. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. Salesforce’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid 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 0.50%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.32%.

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.