Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 323 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Kentucky Retirement Systems cut its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 73,190 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 323 shares during the quarter. Salesforce makes up 0.5% of Kentucky Retirement Systems’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Salesforce were worth $18,817,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management raised its position in Salesforce by 66.3% in the fourth quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management now owns 1,567 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $412,000 after acquiring an additional 625 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 5,951,415 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,566,055,000 after purchasing an additional 18,397 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 32.6% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 789,525 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $207,756,000 after purchasing an additional 194,224 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 7,160 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,983,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XN LP grew its holdings in Salesforce by 24.2% during the second quarter. XN LP now owns 464,489 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $119,420,000 after purchasing an additional 90,616 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRM has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Macquarie lowered their price objective on Salesforce from $330.00 to $275.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, August 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Loop Capital upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $305.55.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $252.42 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Salesforce, Inc. has a one year low of $193.68 and a one year high of $318.71. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $253.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $267.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $244.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.29.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.78%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.04, for a total transaction of $1,079,568.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,223,020.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.04, for a total value of $1,079,568.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 117,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,223,020.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 4,056 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.50, for a total value of $1,060,644.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 66,576 shares of company stock worth $16,957,573. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.