KWB Wealth Lowers Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

KWB Wealth cut its stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 2.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,656 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 89 shares during the quarter. KWB Wealth’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Graypoint LLC increased its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 10,504 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $2,764,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp grew its holdings in Salesforce by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 10,377 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,730,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 353 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $341,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prentice Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Salesforce by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,294 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director G Mason Morfit acquired 428,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $233.17 per share, with a total value of $99,796,760.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,914,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $912,699,429.53. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director G Mason Morfit purchased 428,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $233.17 per share, with a total value of $99,796,760.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,914,309 shares in the company, valued at $912,699,429.53. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.03, for a total value of $4,530,450.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,936,166 shares in the company, valued at $3,907,110,216.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 499,152 shares of company stock worth $136,281,661. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on CRM shares. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $300.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $350.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, May 24th. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They set a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $280.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $292.79.

Salesforce Price Performance

NYSE CRM traded up $4.76 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $260.95. The company had a trading volume of 4,755,729 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,006,645. Salesforce, Inc. has a 52 week low of $193.68 and a 52 week high of $318.71. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $258.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $276.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $252.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.93, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.29.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 29th. The CRM provider reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $9.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.15 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 15.30%. Salesforce’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 9th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.19%.

About Salesforce

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.