Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Cuts Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lessened its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 48,479 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 1,037 shares during the quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $14,601,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 333.3% in the 4th quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 130 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total value of $662,388.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,856 shares in the company, valued at $1,599,566.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 2,425 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.15, for a total value of $662,388.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,856 shares in the company, valued at $1,599,566.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 942 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.32, for a total value of $228,265.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 22,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,368,357.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 541,787 shares of company stock worth $149,773,683 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Salesforce from $231.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Salesforce from $330.00 to $285.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price target (down from $360.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Argus raised their price target on Salesforce from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their target price on Salesforce from $300.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $292.79.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock traded up $9.82 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $252.97. 12,862,790 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,938,266. The business has a 50-day moving average of $260.43 and a 200 day moving average of $276.33. Salesforce, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $193.68 and a fifty-two week high of $318.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $245.13 billion, a PE ratio of 45.48, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.25. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $9.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.15 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 15.30%. The business’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.15 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 EPS for the current year.

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.