KCM Investment Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

KCM Investment Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 1.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 13,866 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after selling 155 shares during the period. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $3,795,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Piscataqua Savings Bank lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 2,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 100 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 816.7% during the 2nd quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 3,125.0% during the 2nd quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 129 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Godsey & Gibb Inc. lifted its holdings in Salesforce by 300.0% during the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 120 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, insider Parker Harris sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.97, for a total value of $1,104,474.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 117,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,920,275.57. The trade was a 3.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 413 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,998,741.74. The trade was a 5.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 144,373 shares of company stock worth $41,250,680 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on CRM. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $322.51.

Salesforce Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRM traded down $5.72 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $325.93. The stock had a trading volume of 1,650,608 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,295,213. The company has a market capitalization of $311.59 billion, a PE ratio of 56.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $284.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $266.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.00 and a 1 year high of $348.86.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $9.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

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

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.