Eastern Bank Has $18.47 Million Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Eastern Bank grew its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 24.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 67,468 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 13,181 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $18,467,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Salesforce by 4.6% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 18,865 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $5,164,000 after buying an additional 837 shares during the last quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 5.0% in the third quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. now owns 8,067 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,208,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. Calton & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 18.2% in the third quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 31,721 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $8,682,000 after buying an additional 4,891 shares during the period. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Salesforce by 7.5% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,858 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $509,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.28, for a total value of $1,080,576.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at $30,251,239.68. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Miguel Milano sold 2,934 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.95, for a total value of $771,495.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,716 shares in the company, valued at $977,122.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.28, for a total transaction of $1,080,576.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,251,239.68. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 76,110 shares of company stock worth $20,292,760. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of CRM stock traded down $2.84 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $288.45. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,648,461 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,372,784. The company has a 50 day moving average of $267.44 and a 200 day moving average of $263.18. The stock has a market cap of $279.51 billion, a PE ratio of 52.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $193.68 and a 12-month high of $318.71.

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

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler downgraded Salesforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Northland Securities upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $270.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Salesforce from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $311.66.

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.