Conning Inc. Has $4.90 Million Stock Position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Conning Inc. grew its holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 5.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,246 shares of the CRM provider's stock after buying an additional 985 shares during the quarter. Conning Inc.'s holdings in Salesforce were worth $4,896,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CRM. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 138.9% in the 1st quarter. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. now owns 172 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE CRM traded up $2.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $271.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,031,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,543,873. The stock has a market cap of $259.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.36. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $272.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $292.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. Salesforce's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.44 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be given a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is 25.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CRM. Macquarie reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $325.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Salesforce currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $349.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 261 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total transaction of $68,473.35. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 12,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,154,496.40. This trade represents a 2.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 1,142 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total transaction of $299,603.70. Following the sale, the insider owned 136,824 shares in the company, valued at $35,895,776.40. This trade represents a 0.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 28,534 shares of company stock worth $7,609,842 over the last ninety days. Company 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.