Barings LLC Sells 3,102 Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Key Points

• Barings LLC reduced its holdings in Salesforce Inc. by 45.0%, selling 3,102 shares and owning a total of 3,784 shares worth approximately $1,015,000 as reported in the latest SEC filing.
• Salesforce reported quarterly earnings of $2.58 EPS, beating analyst expectations, with revenue of $9.83 billion, a 7.6% increase compared to the previous year.
• Analysts have recently adjusted their price targets for Salesforce, with Barclays reducing its target from $425.00 to $347.00, while Citigroup set a new target of $295.00.

Barings LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 45.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,784 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 3,102 shares during the quarter. Barings LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $1,015,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRM. Liberty One Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 3,165 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $849,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. First Command Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 572 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $154,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Mendel Money Management lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Mendel Money Management now owns 1,112 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $298,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Clarity Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Clarity Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,760 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 812 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on CRM shares. Northland Securities dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $423.00 to $396.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $430.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $348.16.

Salesforce Stock Performance

CRM traded down $7.48 during trading on Friday, hitting $250.85. 7,643,247 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,567,701. The firm has a market cap of $239.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.37. The stock's fifty day moving average is $266.04 and its 200 day moving average is $281.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Salesforce Inc. has a one year low of $230.00 and a one year high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $9.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were issued a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.98%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.77, for a total value of $597,982.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,911,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,165,738,224.67. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 39,729 shares of company stock valued at $10,763,881 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Company 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.