M&T Bank Corp Purchases 10,084 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 193,314 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,084 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Salesforce were worth $52,912,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Clear Investment Research LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 816.7% during the second quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Stephens Consulting LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 3,125.0% in the second quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 129 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Godsey & Gibb Inc. increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 300.0% in the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $300.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $415.00 price target (up from $385.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Northland Capmk raised Salesforce from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, FBN Securities raised Salesforce to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $378.86.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM stock traded up $7.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $343.65. The stock had a trading volume of 14,740,856 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,451,860. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $323.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $279.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $328.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.00 and a 52 week high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.62 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Salesforce's payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider Parker Harris sold 942 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.78, for a total transaction of $249,422.76. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 118,514 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $31,380,136.92. The trade was a 0.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 317,105 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.78, for a total value of $109,965,671.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,162,457 shares in the company, valued at $4,217,696,838.46. This trade represents a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,189,056 shares of company stock worth $405,093,170. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.