Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Lowers Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky reduced its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 14.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 176,913 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 29,606 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $48,423,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 60,700 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $15,606,000 after purchasing an additional 4,881 shares in the last quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Salesforce by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 848 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $218,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Country Club Bank lifted its stake in Salesforce by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Country Club Bank now owns 5,042 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,275,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. DB Fitzpatrick & Co Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 31.1% during the 2nd quarter. DB Fitzpatrick & Co Inc now owns 5,093 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,309,000 after acquiring an additional 1,209 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Red Door Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 13.1% during the second quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,652 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,538,000 after purchasing an additional 2,048 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $348.84 on Wednesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The firm has a market cap of $333.84 billion, a PE ratio of 57.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $311.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $273.32. 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 earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a net margin of 15.96% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The business had revenue of $9.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.46%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.32%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, insider Miguel Milano sold 719 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.81, for a total value of $246,480.39. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,597,151.79. This represents a 13.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $30,223,020.24. This represents a 3.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 138,498 shares of company stock valued at $40,983,349. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Erste Group Bank upgraded Salesforce from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Salesforce from $234.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. FBN Securities upgraded Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Northland Securities reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $372.86.

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.