Liontrust Investment Partners LLP Has $8.35 Million Stock Position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Key Points

• Liontrust Investment Partners LLP reduced its stake in Salesforce Inc. by **57.2%** during the first quarter, holding **31,123 shares** after selling a total of **41,611 shares**.
• CEO **Marc Benioff** sold **2,250 shares** of Salesforce stock for **$527,940**, bringing his total holdings to approximately **$2.79 billion**.
• Salesforce's stock has seen a **1.5% decline**, with a current market price of **$233.37** and a one-year high of **$369.00**.

Liontrust Investment Partners LLP reduced its stake in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 57.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,123 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 41,611 shares during the quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP's holdings in Salesforce were worth $8,352,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 450.0% in the first quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 110 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Salesforce by 314.8% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 112 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. 80.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM stock traded up $9.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $242.78. 12,936,592 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,984,759. Salesforce Inc. has a twelve month low of $226.48 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The firm has a market cap of $232.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.37. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $260.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $275.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07.

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, 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 company had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.74 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.44 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 18th were issued a $0.416 dividend. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's payout ratio is presently 25.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on CRM. DA Davidson upgraded Salesforce from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Salesforce from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Guggenheim upgraded Salesforce from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Salesforce from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Salesforce from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given 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.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $347.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.30, for a total value of $585,675.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,955,566 shares in the company, valued at $3,112,033,829.80. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 46,532 shares of company stock valued at $12,082,694. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

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.