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

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board trimmed its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 3.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,686 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 1,500 shares during the period. Salesforce comprises about 0.4% of New Mexico Educational Retirement Board's investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board's holdings in Salesforce were worth $11,992,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CRM. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 96.7% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 665 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $167,000 after buying an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Salesforce by 13.5% during the first quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,551 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $685,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC bought a new stake in Salesforce in the first quarter worth about $428,000. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 20,860 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $5,598,000 after buying an additional 814 shares during the period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust raised its holdings in Salesforce by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 98,696 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $26,486,000 after buying an additional 1,327 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Stock Up 1.5%

Salesforce stock opened at $273.77 on Wednesday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $272.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $290.51. The company has a market cap of $261.72 billion, a PE ratio of 42.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.36. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $230.00 and a 1-year high of $369.00. 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 (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.44 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CRM. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Salesforce from $400.00 to $345.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Macquarie restated a "neutral" rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Guggenheim upgraded Salesforce from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $349.08.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 1,525 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.66, for a total transaction of $386,831.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 12,211 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,097,442.26. The trade was a 11.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider R David Schmaier sold 6,959 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.31, for a total value of $1,762,784.29. Following the transaction, the insider owned 36,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,141,957.90. This represents a 16.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,034 shares of company stock worth $8,833,235 in the last quarter. 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CRM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.