Krane Funds Advisors LLC Has $769,000 Holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Krane Funds Advisors LLC raised its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 112.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,864 shares of the CRM provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,515 shares during the period. Krane Funds Advisors LLC's holdings in Salesforce were worth $769,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CRM. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Salesforce by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,955,353 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $6,656,078,000 after purchasing an additional 175,035 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Salesforce by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,224,927 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $3,752,830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,736,667 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $3,599,867,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 23.2% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,938,536 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,988,422,000 after purchasing an additional 1,683,233 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,658,132 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $2,894,673,000 after purchasing an additional 602,445 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Oscar Munoz purchased 3,882 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $257.28 per share, for a total transaction of $998,760.96. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 11,843 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,046,967.04. The trade was a 48.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Srinivas Tallapragada sold 6,697 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.00, for a total value of $1,975,615.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 41,422 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,219,490. The trade was a 13.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 28,534 shares of company stock worth $7,609,842. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM stock traded down $2.85 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $269.06. The company had a trading volume of 6,075,671 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,537,140. Salesforce Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $230.00 and a fifty-two week high of $369.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $257.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a 50 day moving average of $271.69 and a 200 day moving average of $293.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

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

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be given a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRM has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group set a $404.00 price target on shares of Salesforce and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Guggenheim raised shares of Salesforce from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $370.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Westpark Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $349.08.

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.