Kennedy Investment Group Cuts Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Kennedy Investment Group lessened its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 16.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,045 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 395 shares during the quarter. Kennedy Investment Group’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $409,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.9% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,509,345 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $9,091,832,000 after buying an additional 391,648 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.9% during the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 36,357,722 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $7,263,546,000 after buying an additional 695,355 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 19,003,836 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,519,719,000 after buying an additional 149,012 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 1.9% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,749,285 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $3,536,910,000 after buying an additional 332,375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 21.3% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,134,170 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,823,724,000 after buying an additional 2,481,759 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.52% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of CRM stock traded down $1.99 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $219.67. 1,538,073 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,020,985. The business’s fifty day moving average is $217.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $205.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $126.34 and a 12-month high of $238.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 138.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.19.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 30th. The CRM provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $8.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.53 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 4.77% and a return on equity of 7.67%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 5.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 24,281 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.35, for a total value of $5,156,070.35. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 34,180 shares in the company, valued at $7,258,123. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 24,281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.35, for a total transaction of $5,156,070.35. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 34,180 shares in the company, valued at $7,258,123. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.12, for a total transaction of $3,076,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 16,086,166 shares in the company, valued at $3,299,594,369.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 707,472 shares of company stock worth $154,064,224 over the last three months. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CRM. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 31st. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $248.00 to $268.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, August 31st. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 31st. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $275.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, August 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.86.

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 relationship intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer service and support at scale.