Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida Makes New $1.28 Million Investment in Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,565 shares of the CRM provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,278,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CRM. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth about $11,396,844,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Salesforce in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,914,086,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Salesforce by 130.2% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 12,659,217 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,363,096,000 after purchasing an additional 7,160,302 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the second quarter worth approximately $927,332,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the second quarter worth approximately $844,928,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM traded down $0.45 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $224.54. 5,186,020 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,773,228. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $224.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $192.23. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $146.32 and a 1-year high of $269.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $184.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.26.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $2.63. The company had revenue of $11.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.33 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 24.90%. Salesforce’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.91 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 16.670-16.710 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 3.420-3.440 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 12.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 17th will be given a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 17th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk bought 4,176 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $239.33 per share, for a total transaction of $999,442.08. Following the transaction, the director owned 18,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,486,958.84. This trade represents a 28.66% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.61, for a total value of $1,172,745.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,416,936.57. This trade represents a 45.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on CRM shares. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $275.14.

Salesforce Profile

Salesforce, Inc (NYSE: CRM) develops cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) software and enterprise applications. Its platform helps organizations manage sales, customer service, marketing, commerce, analytics, data integration and collaboration through subscription-based services.

The company’s product portfolio includes Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud, Salesforce Platform, Data Cloud and Tableau. Salesforce also offers MuleSoft integration technology, Slack collaboration software and artificial intelligence capabilities through its Einstein platform.