Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) Shares Sold by Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund reduced its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 31.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,646 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 9,044 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $6,568,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Veritas Asset Management LLP acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter worth $733,805,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 52.7% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,433,785 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,482,347,000 after buying an additional 1,530,572 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its position in Salesforce by 46.7% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,829,773 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,280,408,000 after buying an additional 1,219,254 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 171.2% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,634,834 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $447,470,000 after buying an additional 1,032,068 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 23,664.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,002,848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $274,490,000 after purchasing an additional 998,628 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 1.3 %

NYSE:CRM opened at $325.49 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $336.56 and a 200 day moving average of $303.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market cap of $311.49 billion, a PE ratio of 53.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00.

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

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 6,221 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.00, for a total value of $2,133,803.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,474,323. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 436 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.28, for a total value of $144,874.08. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,344,899.96. This represents a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,111,420 shares of company stock worth $384,366,700 over the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on CRM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. KeyCorp upgraded Salesforce from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Salesforce from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $377.63.

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.