New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Decreases Holdings in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lowered its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 3.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 44,686 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 1,500 shares during the period. Salesforce makes up 0.4% of New Mexico Educational Retirement Board's holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board's holdings in Salesforce were worth $11,992,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $823,000. Heartland Bank & Trust Co raised its stake in Salesforce by 117.2% during the first quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co now owns 5,981 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $1,605,000 after acquiring an additional 3,227 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $5,249,000. Elwood Capital Partners LP acquired a new position in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $1,337,000. Finally, Bestgate Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth about $441,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Salesforce from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Erste Group Bank cut Salesforce from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Mizuho reduced their price target on Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered Salesforce from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $420.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Salesforce from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $349.08.

Salesforce Stock Performance

NYSE CRM traded down $2.55 on Wednesday, hitting $271.10. 6,371,001 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,542,570. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. The business's fifty day moving average is $272.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $290.51. Salesforce Inc. has a 12 month low of $230.00 and a 12 month high of $369.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $259.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.43, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.36.

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 anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.416 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Salesforce

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 261 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total transaction of $68,473.35. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 12,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,154,496.40. This represents a 2.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Miguel Milano sold 405 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.35, for a total value of $106,251.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 9,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,605,922.55. The trade was a 3.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,034 shares of company stock worth $8,833,235 in the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.