Baird Financial Group Inc. Sells 131,013 Shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Baird Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM – Get Rating) by 36.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 232,215 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 131,013 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $33,402,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Salesforce by 40.6% during the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 46,707,038 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $7,708,529,000 after buying an additional 13,483,854 shares during the period. Public Investment Fund purchased a new position in Salesforce during the second quarter worth $437,393,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in Salesforce by 114.9% during the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 3,881,056 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $640,566,000 after buying an additional 2,074,938 shares during the period. PointState Capital LP purchased a new position in Salesforce during the third quarter worth $181,700,000. Finally, Polen Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Salesforce by 12.5% during the third quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 11,057,687 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $1,590,538,000 after buying an additional 1,228,763 shares during the period. 75.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Brent Hyder sold 292 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.55, for a total transaction of $37,536.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,305 shares in the company, valued at $810,507.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Brent Hyder sold 292 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.55, for a total value of $37,536.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,305 shares in the company, valued at approximately $810,507.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 924 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.55, for a total transaction of $118,780.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 32,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,217,339.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 37,293 shares of company stock worth $6,285,082 over the last 90 days. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM opened at $182.89 on Wednesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52-week low of $126.34 and a 52-week high of $222.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $182.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 870.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $163.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $153.24.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 1st. The CRM provider reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.32. Salesforce had a net margin of 0.66% and a return on equity of 4.48%. The firm had revenue of $8.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.24 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce, Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, March 1st that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the CRM provider to buy up to 10.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Northland Securities boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $150.00 to $181.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 29th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $210.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.24.

Salesforce Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Salesforce, Inc engages in the design and development of cloud-based enterprise software for customer relationship management. Its solutions include sales force automation, customer service and support, marketing automation, digital commerce, community management, collaboration, industry-specific solutions, and salesforce platform.