Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Trims Holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Key Points

• Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC has reduced its stake in Salesforce by 14.2%, selling 7,588 shares in the first quarter, leaving it with 45,693 shares valued at approximately $12.26 million.
• Salesforce'sCEO, Marc Benioff, recently sold 2,250 shares for about $599,760, which reflects a 0.02% decrease in his shareholding.
• Multiple analysts have revised their price targets on Salesforce, with prices ranging from $255 to $425, indicating varying market sentiments towards the stock's performance.

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC decreased its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 14.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,693 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 7,588 shares during the period. Salesforce accounts for 0.8% of Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $12,262,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 450.0% during the first quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Salesforce by 314.8% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 112 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in Salesforce during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total value of $1,975,615.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 41,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,219,490. The trade was a 13.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.69, for a total value of $611,302.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,862,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,222,910,942.33. This represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 33,479 shares of company stock worth $9,091,796. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CRM shares. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $430.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, July 11th. Stephens dropped their target price on Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on Salesforce from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Salesforce from $320.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and four have issued 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 an average price target of $348.16.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM stock traded up $1.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $269.11. 4,013,320 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,704,325. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $268.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $284.27. Salesforce Inc. has a 12 month low of $230.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $257.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.11, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.36.

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

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were issued a $0.416 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

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.