Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Has $53.10 Million Stock Position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky decreased its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 206,519 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 15,791 shares during the quarter. Salesforce makes up about 0.5% of Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $53,096,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management grew its stake in Salesforce by 66.3% in the 4th quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management now owns 1,567 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $412,000 after buying an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its stake in Salesforce by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 7,160 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $1,983,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. XN LP grew its stake in Salesforce by 24.2% in the 2nd quarter. XN LP now owns 464,489 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $119,420,000 after buying an additional 90,616 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new position in Salesforce in the 1st quarter valued at $2,178,000. Finally, First Foundation Advisors grew its stake in Salesforce by 38.0% in the 1st quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 828 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $249,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $273.68 on Tuesday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $193.68 and a 1-year high of $318.71. The company has a market cap of $265.20 billion, a PE ratio of 49.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a 50-day moving average of $256.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $264.81.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.20. Salesforce had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The company had revenue of $9.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. Salesforce’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 18th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is 28.78%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total transaction of $229,434.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,072,660.02. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 897 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.78, for a total value of $229,434.66. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,072,660.02. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.75, for a total transaction of $1,061,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 116,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,494,155.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 67,985 shares of company stock worth $17,632,363 in the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $315.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $234.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Salesforce to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Salesforce presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $308.03.

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.