Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Has $7.85 Million Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund reduced its holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 28,690 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 2,637 shares during the period. Salesforce makes up about 0.5% of Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $7,853,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,243 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $4,172,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Coastline Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.2% during the third quarter. Coastline Trust Co now owns 6,406 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,753,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC increased its holdings in Salesforce by 2.3% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 33,203 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $9,088,000 after purchasing an additional 757 shares during the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Salesforce by 2.4% in the third quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 26,183 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $7,166,000 after buying an additional 615 shares during the period. Finally, Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 16.4% during the third quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 220,843 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $60,447,000 after buying an additional 31,099 shares during the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CRM. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $335.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Cfra set a $343.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $315.00 price objective (up previously from $300.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $322.51.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.29, for a total transaction of $117,824.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. This trade represents a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 60,522 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $18,156,600.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 144,373 shares of company stock valued at $41,250,680 in the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $325.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $286.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $266.64. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $348.86. The company has a market capitalization of $310.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.29.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 18th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.83%.

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.